Shark SOS: The initiatives seeking to revive Europe's predator populations

At the foot of Vesuvius on the western coast of Italy lies the Bay of Naples, renowned for the beauty of its surrounding area and the richness of its marine life.

A few years ago, Italian journalist and marine researcher Eleonora de Sabata, following a tip from local divers, discovered a true living treasure in one of the bay's underwater reefs.

Shark eggs, also known as mermaid's purses, are cradles of life for some of the dozens of shark species living in the Mediterranean. But sharks are silently struggling for survival in their own habitat.

In the crevices of Europe's underwater reefs live nursehound sharks; a species harmless to humans and crucial for the marine ecosystem. Each can be identified by a unique pattern of specks. 

Eleonora assigns each shark a personal name. But her observations reveal that instead of increasing, the local shark population is collapsing.

"When we started this survey, you could find hundreds of egg cases in this area. Now, ten years later, there are only dozens," Eleonora de Sabata told Ocean.

"Sadly, this is something that is happening everywhere in the Mediterranean Sea. It's not that there are people who are actively catching sharks, but they get entangled in nets and hooks that are meant for other species. And then we change their environment a lot. They need quiet, they need places where the baby sharks can rest and shelter and can find food — and we've transformed every coastal area. So they're not doing too well."

Since the 1970s, the shark population in the northern Tyrrhenian Sea has plummeted by 99%. Yet, this crisis often remains unnoticed.

The Livorno Aquarium participates in the EU-funded project LIFE European Sharks, which aims to educate Europeans of all ages about sharks and