Angel Delight
- Sophie SharkSpeak Maycock
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
Many people have no idea that there are sharks in UK waters, but believe it or not, not only are British waters teaming with sharks, but certain regions may even be critical for the conservation of certain Endangered species. After suffering massive population declines for decades, scientists are now hopeful that the Celtic Sea may offer a previously overlooked stronghold for Critically Endangered angel sharks. So where do these angel sharks live? Why are they so depleted? And how can we go about conserving them?
You're An Angel
Angel sharks have large pectoral fins and a unique, dorso-ventrally flattened body, a little bit like a ray, yet have a powerful tail, like their shark cousins. They have a short shout, wide mouth, large nostrils, and their eyes sit on the top of their heads, so they can bury themselves in the sand to lie in wait for prey (Weigmann et al, 2023).
There are 26 different species of angel sharks, living over a wide geographical range. Angel sharks favour highly productive, shallow coastal regions (<20 metres depth), with sandy, muddy or gravelly bottoms, such as estuaries or protected bays (Hiddink et al, 2019; Barker et al, 2020; Mason et al, 2025).
Once common across the Northeast Atlantic from norther Scandinavia: Norway and Sweden, around the UK, down to Morocco, and the Mediterranean and Black Seas, angel shark populations have significantly declined globally. They can now only be found in small numbers in the Adriatic and off the coast of Turkey, and it is thought that their greatest stronghold is in the Canary Islands, where a strict ban on bottom trawling has contributed to their recovery (Moore & Hiddink, 2022).
Angel Makers
Angel sharks are one of the most threatened groups of all sharks and rays, after massive declines over the 20th century. According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species thirteen species are flagged as threatened with extinction in the wild (Barker et al, 2020; Moore & Hiddink, 2022; Hiddink et al, 2019; Mason et al, 2025).
It is thought that the (ironically named!) common angel shark (Squatina squatina) has been completely "extirpated" from the Bay of Biscay, parts of the Mediterranean, and throughout the North Sea and Celtic Seas; meaning they are locally extinct in these areas. Originally flagged as Vulnerable by the IUCN in 2000, they were reclassified as Critically Endangered in 2006 (Moore & Hiddink, 2022; Hiddink et al, 2019; Mason et al, 2025).
Angel sharks have declined so precipitously in response to multiple threats. Their habitats are being degraded by sewage and oil spill pollution, microplastics and ocean litter, agricultural runoff causing eutrophication, mining runoff, anchor strikes and human altering of seafloor morphology and addition of pipelines and/or electrical cables. Their habitats are also be destroyed thanks to the construction of coastal defenses, commercial and residential development, maritime mining and energy production. Yet, by far the greatest impact comes from massive overfishing. Angel sharks were historically an important catch and in recent decades they have been threatened by "ghost fishing" (for more information, see Ghosts in the Ocean), and they are highly catchable in trawls and easily entangled in net fisheries, where they are caught as "bycatch" (Hiddink et al, 2019; Barker et al, 2020; Mason et al, 2025).
Guardian Angel
Despite coastal areas around Wales, Ireland and England being the only sites in western Europe where sightings are still consistent, it has long been thought that angel shark populations had been decimated in the UK. Studies have found that angel shark populations in Wales may have been reduced fivefold since the 1980s (Hiddink et al, 2019).
However, scientists have discovered that Welsh angel sharks may not be in quite such dire straits as was originally thought! After considering that changes in fishing practices over recent decades are likely to have meant fishers and angel sharks cross paths less regularly, experts now suspect that reduced sightings might not be because angel shark numbers are continuing to decline, but merely a bias in the recording data (Mason et al, 2025).
It seems angel sharks are still present in Welsh waters, all be it in lower numbers than they have enjoyed historically and their declines have been overestimated (Hiddink et al, 2019; Barker et al, 2020; Mason et al, 2025).
Angel of Mercy
Angel sharks remain rare and cryptic in the Celtic Sea, but the good news that they may not be completely bottomed out should inspire us to take action to protect angel sharks in these waters (Hiddink et al, 2019; Barker et al, 2020; Mason et al, 2025).
Angel sharks are already protected by multiple different layers of legislation in the UK: by local Welsh acts, national acts, EU level legislation, and they are also protected under The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS, 2017). Therefore, it is prohibited to fish, harm or trade these animals. In addition, The Angel Shark Project has been formed to develop an action plan for ongoing conservation and research (Mason et al, 2025).
An Angel Gets Their Wings
Scientists recommend that fisheries need to focus on avoiding unintended catches of angel sharks, by avoiding the regions where they are most common, such as shingles reefs (known as "sarns") in Cardigan Bay. This site is already considered a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), but angling, some trawling and trawling, and ever-ongoing ghost fishing continue to impact angel sharks within the protected area. Regulations should be much more strict (Mason et al, 2025).
What makes conservation of these Critically Endangered sharks important in the UK, is the population demographics sighted in the Celtic Sea. Since 1980, 1642 angel sharks have been reported in Welsh waters, of which 79 were juveniles sighted in Cardigan Bay and the Bristol Channel. Therefore, scientists suspect that angel sharks may give birth to their young in this area. Protecting critical "nursery habitats" could be essential for bolstering angel shark numbers in Wales (Barker et al, 2020).
The Angel Shark Project hopes to continue to fill knowledge gaps via ongoing studies of angel sharks in the region, and to raise awareness and incentivise local communities to rally behind the protection of angel sharks as an iconic flagship Welsh species (Barker et al, 2020).
Don't forget to celebrate Angel Shark Day year on the 26th June!
References
Barker J, Davies J, Wray B, Sharp R, Gollock M, Evans J, O’Connor J, Evans, S, Gordon C, Moore A, Nelson M, Dulvy NK, Hiddink J, Fish J, Jiménez Alvarado D, Brittain R, Meyers E, Goralczyk M, Bull J, Jones N, Sims W & Clark M. (2020). Wales Angelshark Action Plan. Zoological Society of London. Access online.
CMS (2017). Concerted Action for the Angel Shark (Squatina squatina). Access online.
Hiddink JG, Shepperson J, Bater R, Goonesekera D & Dulvv NK (2019). Near disappearance of the Angelshark Squatina squatina over half a century of observations. Conservation Science and Practice, 1:9, e97. Access online.
Lawson JM, Pollom RA, Gordon CA, Barker J, Meyers EK, Zidowitz H, Ellis J, Bartolli A, Morey G, Fowler S, Jimenez D, Fordham S, Sharp R, Hood A & Dulvy, N. K. (2020). Extinction risk and conservation of critically endangered angel sharks in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 77. Access online.
Mason FC, Davies J, Patel S, Wray B, Bartlett C, Davies M, Chamberlain, Pike C, Whittey KE, Collins C, Gollock M, Barker J& Curnick DJ (2025). A fisher's perspective: Using half a century of local fisher knowledge to identify socio‐economic, ecological and legislative trends influencing angelshark (Squatina squatina) records in Wales. People and Nature. Access online.
Moore AB & Hiddink JG (2022). Identifying critical habitat with archives: 275-year-old naturalist's notes provide high-resolution spatial evidence of long-term core habitat for a critically endangered shark. Biological Conservation, 272, 109621. Access online.
Weigmann S, Vaz DF, Akhilesh KV, Leeney RH & Naylor GJ (2023). Revision of the Western Indian Ocean angel sharks, genus Squatina (Squatiniformes, Squatinidae), with description of a new species and redescription of the African angel shark Squatina africana Regan, 1908. Biology, 127. Access online.
