• Pool 1: Sharks 28-23 Saracens

• Much-changed Sarries beaten in tough conditions

It is a long way to go for just a point, but Saracens all but took the maximum against Sharks in biblical weather in Durban. Now that South Africa has been incorporated into the Champions Cup, these long trips are part and parcel. It meant Saracens changing 10 of their starting lineup. It meant Sharks changing 14 – and a head coach to boot.

JP Pietersen, the former Springbok, stepped up to fill his new role this week when John Plumtree resigned after the Sharks’ heavy defeat in Toulouse on Sunday. One match, one win, his record now reads. For Sharks this was only a second win of the season. They were just about worth it, but still they must despair at finding any rhythm among a squad packed with Springboks.

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© Photograph: Gallo Images/Getty Images

© Photograph: Gallo Images/Getty Images

© Photograph: Gallo Images/Getty Images

For the first time, global governments have agreed to widespread international trade bans and restrictions for sharks and rays being driven to extinction.

Last week, more than 70 shark and ray species, including oceanic whitetip sharks, whale sharks, and manta rays, received new safeguards under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. The convention, known as CITES, is a United Nations treaty that requires countries to regulate or prohibit international trade in species whose survival is threatened.

Sharks and rays are closely related species that play similar roles as apex predators in the ocean, helping to maintain healthy marine ecosystems. They have been caught and traded for decades, contributing to a global market worth nearly $1 billion annually, according to Luke Warwick, director of shark and ray conservation at Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), an international nonprofit dedicated to preserving animals and their habitats.

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© Anadolu / Contributor

Dramatic scenes in the water prompt warnings to swimmers and snorkelers at one of Australia’s most popular holiday destinations

An abundance of baitfish has drawn in hundreds of sharks to feed in the shallows around Byron Bay, creating dramatic scenes at one of Australia’s most popular holiday destinations.

The multi-day event was captured by many Byron locals, who shared footage of the sharks, including black tip whalers, dusky whalers and bull sharks, as they fed on the large school of fish over the weekend.

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© Photograph: Ben Gray

© Photograph: Ben Gray

© Photograph: Ben Gray

A global treaty has extended trade protections to more than 70 shark and ray species whose numbers are in sharp decline.

© Matthew Abbott for The New York Times

A pod of orcas in the Gulf of California has repeatedly hunted juvenile white sharks to feast on their livers.