Research at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo has identified the first known blacktip shark nursery habitat in Hawaiian waters, offering new insight into how young sharks use Hilo Bay during their earliest years. The recently published study found juvenile blacktip sharks live in Hilo Bay year-round, with the highest activity from March through August. To track the sharks, researchers tagged juvenile blacktip sharks with acoustic transmitters and monitored their movements throughout Hilo Bay from July 2022 to January 2024. The study focused on oceanic blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus), one of two blacktip shark species found in Hawaiʻi. Researchers are now expanding their work to examine 15 years of shark and ray population trends in Hilo Bay.