Blog: Shoaling for sharks - the key component for their welfare

For BIAZA Shark Awareness Week, Fin Hamill (Displays Supervisor and Head of Education at St Andrews Aquarium) introduces the BIAZA Elasmobranch Focus Group and how minor conversations can lead to major shark welfare developments:

When I started working with sharks and rays, I thought becoming experienced meant eventually having all the answers. I imagined that the people who had been doing the job for twenty years knew everything there was to know, and that one day, after enough hard work, I'd get there too. A few years later, I've realised that's complete nonsense. In fact, one of the first things I've learned about working with elasmobranchs is that the people who know the most are usually the first to admit what they don't know. That might sound strange, but I genuinely think it's one of the greatest strengths of the BIAZA shark and ray community.

Some of the most valuable things I've learned about shark husbandry haven't come from books, papers or formal training courses. They've come from conversations. Conversations at conferences. Conversations during collection visits. Conversations over coffee. And, perhaps most importantly, conversations that begin with: "This might be a stupid question, but..."

For the record, those are rarely stupid questions.

Working at a smaller aquarium, I've always been conscious that we perhaps don't have the resources or specialist teams that some larger sites do. Early on, I saw that as a limitation. Now, I see it differently. One of the best things about working within BIAZA is that expertise doesn't belong to institutions, it belongs to people. Some of the best advice I've ever received has come from colleagues working at sites similar to ours, while some has come from people working with completely different species altogether.

Sharks and rays are fascinating animals to work with because, despite decades of experience across our sector, there is still so much we don't know. Whether it's welfare assessment, nutrition, behaviour or environmental requirements, we're constantly learning. Rather than seeing that uncertainty as a weakness, I've come to believe it's actually one of our greatest strengths. It forces us to collaborate, to question our assumptions and, most importantly, to share what we've learned.

That's why I think the culture within the BIAZA elasmobranch community is something worth celebrating during Shark Week. We're fortunate to work in a sector where people are remarkably willing to pick up the phone, answer an email or spend half an hour talking through a problem they've encountered themselves. Some of the most useful advice I've ever received has started with someone saying, "We had exactly the same issue a few years ago."

As Chair of the BIAZA Elasmobranch Focus Group, I've had the privilege of seeing this collaborative culture from a different perspective. The willingness of colleagues to contribute their experience and support one another is genuinely impressive. People volunteer their time not because they have to, but because they care deeply about the animals we work with and want to help move our profession forward.

If there's one thing working with sharks has actually taught me, it's that expertise isn't about having all the answers. It's about being curious enough to keep asking questions and generous enough to share the answers when you find them.

And for all the incredible things about sharks, skates and rays, I think that's something worth celebrating too.

- Fin Hamill (Displays Supervisor and Head of Education at St Andrews Aquarium)

All blogs reflect the views of their author and are not necessarily a reflection of BIAZA's positions