On a diving trip, Yannis Papastamatiou of FIU found that gray reef sharks “surf” the ocean waves to conserve energy. Papastamatiou and his team monitored the shark behavior by utilizing a combination of tracking tags, animal cameras, and their own observations.

“Marine environments are a lot more dynamic because of the water currents, which are much less predictable. They can change seasonally, throughout the day and even minute by minute. Ultimately, the energy seascape helps explains why these animals are in this channel hanging out there during the day. Now we have an answer,” Papastamatiou said.

• Yannis Papastamatiou