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Trump’s NIH director isn’t the only official wearing multiple hats during the president’s second term
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The Trump administration has repeatedly assigned additional job roles to Cabinet members and other officials, and one of his top health officials is the latest to begin pulling double duty for the president.
On Wednesday, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jay Bhattacharya became the latest Trump official assigned an additional role. The NIH chief and staunch COVID contrarian will temporarily run the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) until a new permanent director is appointed by President Donald Trump and subsequently confirmed by the Senate, while continuing to lead the NIH.
Bhattacharya’s move to the CDC followed the departure of Jim O’Neill, who was also deputy secretary of the Health and Human Services Department amid a broader restructuring of the Trump administration’s public health agencies. O’Neill is now reportedly expected to lead the National Science Foundation.
Fox News Digital looked back on the various Trump Cabinet members and officials wearing multiple hats as the president adjusts during the second year of his second term.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of the VA Doug Collins, President Donald Trump and FBI Director Kash Patel. (Getty Images)
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya
A physician, former Stanford professor of medicine and senior fellow at the university’s Institute for Economic Policy Research, Bhattacharya was a leading voice during the COVID-19 pandemic against lockdown measures and vaccine mandates.
He was one of the co-authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, a document published in October 2020 by a group of scientists advocating against widespread COVID lockdowns and promoting the efficacy of natural immunity for low-risk individuals as opposed to vaccination.
During Bhattacharya’s tenure, he has been forced to defend certain funding cuts tied to academic research and staffing. One of the core components Bhattacharya indicated that he wanted to pursue after his confirmation was to usher in a new age of «gold standard science.»
«I think fundamentally what matters is do scientists have an idea that advances the scientific field they’re in?» Bhattacharya said during his March confirmation testimony. «Do they have an idea that ends up addressing the health needs of Americans?»
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya will lead both the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Getty Images)
Marco Rubio
Rubio and the Trump administration came under fire from Democrats for the secretary of state holding as many as four high-profile roles during the second Trump administration. As of today, he remains in two of those roles.
He was first confirmed as secretary of state hours after Trump was inaugurated, a role Rubio remains in today.
About a month later, amid a massive reorganization at the U.S. Administration for International Development (USAID), Rubio was named director and held that role until handing it off a few months later.
Around the same time, Rubio was tapped to be the acting archivist of the United States (NARA), a role he stopped serving in earlier this month.
Rubio does still serve as the interim national security advisor, a role he has held since May after the departure of Michael Waltz.
«There’s no way he can do that and do it well, especially since there’s such incompetence over at DOD with Pete Hegseth being secretary of defense and just the hollowing out of the top leadership,» Illinois Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth said of Rubio’s multiple jobs. «There’s no way he can carry all that entire load on his own.»
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«I don’t know how anybody could do these two big jobs,» Democratic Virginia Sen. Mark Warner added.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio serves in four different roles with the administration. (Evan Vucci/Associated Press)
When asked about the trend of Trump officials wearing multiple work hats in May, the White House reflected in a comment to Fox News Digital on former President Joe Biden’s «disaster of a Cabinet.»
«Democrats cheered on Joe Biden’s disaster of a Cabinet as it launched the botched Afghanistan withdrawal, opened the southern border to migrant criminals, weaponized the justice system against political opponents and more,» White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital in May.
«President Trump has filled his administration with many qualified, talented individuals he trusts to manage many responsibilities.»
The Trump administration has repeatedly brushed off concerns over Rubio holding multiple roles, most notably juggling both his State Department leadership and serving as acting national security advisor. Similarly, former President Richard Nixon in 1973 named National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger to simultaneously serve as Secretary of State.
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«You need a team player who is very honest with the president and the senior team, not someone trying to build an empire or wield a knife or drive their own agenda,» an administration official told Politico. «He is singularly focused on delivering the president’s agenda.»
Despite Democratic rhetoric that Rubio was taking on too many roles, the former Florida senator helped oversee successful U.S. strikes on Iran in June, which destroyed a trio of nuclear sites and decimated the country’s efforts to advance its nuclear program.
Kash Patel
FBI Director Kash Patel, who railed against the «deep state» and vowed to strip corruption from the federal law enforcement agency ahead of his confirmation, was briefly charged with overseeing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in February after the Biden-era director resigned in January 2025.
Kash Patel briefly served as acting director of the ATF and FBI director. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Patel was later replaced by Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll as acting ATF director in a job change that was reported publicly in April.
ARMY SECRETARY DAN DRISCOLL TO LEAD ATF, REPLACING FBI DIRECTOR KASH PATEL
«Director Kash Patel was briefly designated ATF director while awaiting Senate confirmations, a standard, short-term move. Dozens of similar redesignations have occurred across the federal government,» the White House told Reuters in April. «Director Patel is now excelling in his role at the FBI and delivering outstanding results.»
Sean Duffy
Duffy, a former Republican congressman from Wisconsin, was tapped to oversee the Department of Transportation and was confirmed by the Senate Jan. 28. Duffy has been forced to juggle a handful of crises related to tragic plane crashes, including the 2025 Potomac River midair collision and air traffic control issues that plagued New Jersey’s Liberty International Airport last year.
In July, President Trump announced Duffy would also serve as interim chief of NASA. Duffy remained in that position until mid-December, when commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman took over.
Trump tapped Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy to temporarily lead NASA. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Prior to Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, the president announced he would be nominating Isaacman but withdrew his nomination in May before the full Senate confirmed him. Trump said the decision followed a review of Isaacman’s «prior associations,» pointing to money he has given to Democrats.
However, Isaacman suggested at the time that the rescission of his nomination may have been due to his connections to Elon Musk, who was running the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) at the time.
Duffy replaced Janet Petro, who had served as acting NASA administrator since Trump’s inauguration.
Daniel Driscoll
Driscoll was sworn in as the 26th secretary of the Army in February. The secretary of the army is a senior-level civilian official charged with overseeing the management of the Army and also acts as an advisor to the secretary of defense in matters related to the Army.
It was reported in April that Driscoll was named acting ATF director, replacing Patel in that role.
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Daniel Driscoll is the 26th secretary of the U.S. Army. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/Associated Press)
«Mr. Driscoll is responsible for the oversight of the agency’s mission to protect communities from violent criminals, criminal organizations, and the illegal trafficking of firearms, explosives, and contraband,» his ATF biography states. «Under his leadership, the ATF works to enforce federal laws, ensure public safety, and provide critical support in the investigation of firearms-related crimes and domestic and international criminal enterprises,»
Ahead of Trump taking office, Republican representatives Eric Burlison of Missouri and Lauren Boebert of Colorado introduced legislation to abolish the ATF, saying the agency has worked to strip Second Amendment rights from U.S. citizens.
The ATF has been tasked with assisting the Department of Homeland Security in its deportation efforts under the Trump administration.
Driscoll remains listed as the agency’s acting director as of February 2026.
Doug Collins
Former Georgia Republican Rep. Doug Collins was sworn in as the Trump administration’s secretary of Veterans Affairs in February, a Cabinet-level position tasked with overseeing the department and its mission of providing health, education and financial benefits to military veterans.
Days after his confirmation as VA secretary, Trump tapped Collins to temporarily lead two oversight agencies, the Office of Government Ethics and the Office of Special Counsel.
Former Georgia Republican Rep. Doug Collins was sworn in as the Trump administration’s secretary of Veterans Affairs in February. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
VA SECRETARY ACCUSES REPORTER OF SPREADING ‘RUMORS’ ABOUT DOGE THAT HURT VETERANS IN TENSE CLASH
The Office of Government Ethics is charged with overseeing the executive branch’s ethics program, including setting ethics standards for the government and monitoring ethics compliance across federal agencies and departments.
The Office of Special Counsel is charged with overseeing and protecting the federal government’s merit system, most notably ensuring federal whistleblowers don’t face retaliation for sounding the alarm on an issue they’ve experienced. The office also has an established secure channel to allow federal employees to blow the whistle on alleged wrongdoing.
The Office of Special Counsel also enforces the Hatch Act, which bans executive branch staffers, except the president and vice president, from engaging in certain forms of political activity.
Jamieson Greer
Trump’s trade representative, Jamieson Greer, has also been tapped for multiple roles within the administration, in addition to helping lead the administration’s tariff negotiations to bring parity to the chronic U.S. trade deficit with other nations.
Greer took on Collins’ roles as acting director of the Office of Government Ethics and as acting special counsel of the Office of Special Counsel April 1.
Jamieson Greer serves as President Trump’s trade representative in addition to other interim roles. (Rod Lamkey, Jr./The Associated Press)
Trump nominated conservative attorney Paul Ingrassia to lead the Office of Special Counsel in May, but he subsequently withdrew his nomination amid concerns about his rhetoric and other accusations the young conservative was facing at the time.
Russell Vought
Trump named his former director of the Office of Management and Budget during his first administration, Russell Vought, to the same role in his second administration. Vought was confirmed as the federal government’s budget chief in February.
Days later, Vought was also named the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a position he still holds.
RUSS VOUGHT, TAPPED AS CFPB’S ACTING DIRECTOR, DIRECTS BUREAU TO ISSUE NO NEW RULES, STOP NEW INVESTIGATIONS
Russell Vought serves as director of the Office of Management and Budget. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
The CFPB is an independent government agency charged with protecting consumers from unfair financial practices in the private sector. It was created in 2010 under the Obama administration after the financial crash in 2008. Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren originally proposed and advocated for the creation of the agency.
The CFPB came under fierce investigation from the Department of Government Efficiency in February, with mass terminations rocking the agency before the reduction in force initiative was tied up in court.
Ric Grenell
Kennedy Center President Ric Grenell also serves as special presidential envoy for special missions of the United States. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump’s former ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence during his first term, a pair of roles held at separate times in the first administration, currently serves as president of the Kennedy Center and special presidential envoy for special missions of the United States.
GRENELL DEVELOPING ‘COMMONSENSE’ PLAN TO TURN KENNEDY CENTER FINANCIALS AROUND
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts serves as the national cultural center of the U.S. Trump notably serves as the center’s chairman, and Grenell said the center will see a «golden age» of the arts during Trump’s second administration through productions and concerts that Americans actually want to see after years of the performing arts center running in the red.
Trump named Grenell his special presidential envoy for special missions to the United States in December 2024 before his inauguration, saying Grenell will «work in some of the hottest spots around the world, including Venezuela and North Korea.»
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In this role, Grenell helped lead the administration through its response to the wildfires that tore through Southern California in the last days of the Biden administration through the beginning days of the Trump administration.
Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.
donald trump,white house,fbi,executive,politics,coronavirus
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Trump warns of Iranian ‘sleeper cells’ as Canada accused of harboring regime operatives
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As President Donald Trump warned this week about Iranian «sleeper cells» potentially operating in North America, Canadian opposition lawmakers are accusing their government of allowing operatives linked to Tehran’s regime to remain in the country.
Speaking on Wednesday, Trump said U.S. authorities were monitoring Iranian networks believed to have entered the United States in recent years.
«I have been [briefed], and a lot of people came in through Biden with his stupid open border,» Trump said in response to a question from Fox News’ Peter Doocy. «But we know where most of them are. We’ve got our eye on all of them.»
The remarks come amid growing concern among Western security officials about Iranian intelligence activities targeting critics abroad.
FROM HOSTAGE CRISIS TO ASSASSINATION PLOTS: IRAN’S NEAR HALF-CENTURY WAR ON AMERICANS
A counter-protester holds an image of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei near a rally by people supporting the Israel-U.S. conflict with Iran, in front of the U.S. consulate in Toronto, Ontario, Canada March 7, 2026. (Kyaw Soe Oo/Reuters)
In Canada, senior Conservatives say the government has failed to act against Iranian regime officials despite identifying individuals linked to Tehran.
In a statement released in Ottawa, Deputy Conservative leader Melissa Lantsman, immigration shadow minister Michelle Rempel and Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative Québec Lieutenant, called upon the Liberal government to table a plan within one week to take immediate action to stop Iranian regime activities in Canada.
«The Liberals have known for years that there are hundreds of Iranian regime officials in Canada, 239 of whom have had their visas cancelled,» the lawmakers said.
NATIONAL SECURITY EXPERT URGES DHS TO RAISE TERROR THREAT LEVEL, WARNS OF SLEEPER CELL RISKS IN US
A counter-protester holds signs against the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran near a rally by people supporting the war, in front of the U.S. consulate in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, March 7, 2026. (Kyaw Soe Oo/Reuters)
They added that government officials told a parliamentary immigration committee earlier this week that only one person has been deported so far, citing legal obstacles including asylum claims, the absence of direct flights to Iran and privacy protections.
Maryam Shariatmadari, one of the faces of the «Girls of Revolution Street» protests against Iran’s mandatory hijab laws who fled Iran after being imprisoned and now lives in exile in Canada, told Fox News Digital that «The presence of agents of the Islamic Republic in Canada is not a new issue. For years, the people of Iran have expressed concern about the presence of these individuals and their children in Canada.»
«A clear example is Mahmoud Reza Khavari and Marjan Al-Agha, who are known embezzlers. What is striking is that an economic magazine that introduces entrepreneurs has presented the son of Mahmoud Reza Khavari — the former CEO of Bank Melli and a convicted criminal in Iran — as an ‘inspiring businessman’ in Canada and has described him as ‘a young leader,’» she said.
«But these days we are seeing more of these individuals,» Shariatmadari added. «Their presence has become more visible, and they are organizing gatherings under the slogan ‘No to War,’ while expressing support for Hamas and Hezbollah. Meanwhile, they remained completely silent about the killing of Iranians.»
DHS REMAINS UNFUNDED AS IRAN SLEEPER CELL FEARS SPIKE NATIONWIDE AMID SECURITY WARNINGS
Anti-Israel protesters gather outside of the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto synagogue on March 7, 2024. The place of worship was one of three synagogues shot in the first week of March, 2026. (Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Exiled Iranian journalist Mehdi Ghadimi who now lives in Canada told Fox News Digital that individuals linked to Iran’s regime often arrive in Western countries through several different channels. «Some arrive as students, academics or ordinary immigrants but were already connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps through family ties or ideological affiliation», he said, «They often try to identify activists and critics so those individuals can face legal or judicial problems either in Iran or even abroad,» he said.
Ghadimi said another category operates primarily through financial networks tied to the regime. «Another group includes people who used to be members of the IRGC or other state institutions and later enter countries like Canada as private investors,» he said. «When someone brings several million dollars for investment, it raises questions about where that money came from.»
He added that wealthy business figures who move capital abroad may also do so with the approval of Iran’s security establishment. «If someone is moving large amounts of money out of Iran and investing abroad, it is very difficult to do that without the approval of the IRGC and the security institutions of the Islamic Republic,» he said.
Ghadimi also pointed to past corruption scandals involving Iranian officials who moved large sums of money overseas, including the case of former Bank Melli CEO Mahmoud Reza Khavari, who fled Iran after a major banking scandal and later settled in Canada.
The criticism comes as Canadian police investigate the disappearance of Iranian dissident Masood Masjoody, a mathematician and critic of Iran’s clerical leadership who vanished earlier this year in Burnaby, British Columbia.
Investigators with Canada’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team say evidence suggests Masjoody was likely the victim of murder, though authorities have not publicly identified suspects and the investigation remains ongoing, according to The Guardian.
Police say investigators are reviewing Masjoody’s background and personal history as part of the probe, and Canadian media reports have noted aspects of his past that authorities are examining as they work to determine a possible motive.
The case has heightened concerns among Canada’s Iranian diaspora, many of whom have warned for years that Tehran monitors and intimidates critics abroad.
Conservatives argue weaknesses in immigration enforcement have allowed individuals linked to the Iranian regime to remain in the country despite visa bans and sanctions imposed by Ottawa.
They are calling on the government to urgently enforce deportation orders against Iranian regime officials, disrupt financial networks linked to Tehran and establish a long-delayed foreign influence registry aimed at exposing agents working on behalf of foreign governments.
«The Liberals can take action against the Iranian regime today, at home within our own borders. Too much is at stake. We expect a plan within the week,» they said in the statement.
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«It’s not complicated, Iran’s regime must not find safe haven in Canada,» Lantsman said.
The Canadian government directed Fox News Digital to the Canada Border Services Agency, which did not respond to a request for comment.
canada,war with iran,terrorism,donald trump
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Sen. John Cornyn’s reversal on scrapping the Senate filibuster is sparking backlash among some supporters of the 60-vote rule, with one leading proponent, former Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., accusing the Texas Republican of ditching his longstanding position for political expediency.
«When I was a U.S. Senator, there was not another person more committed to keeping the filibuster than Senator John Cornyn,» Manchin wrote in a scathing social media post Thursday. «He understood the incredible political pressure I faced from my former party to get rid of the filibuster and give Democrats complete power — and at the time, he understood why neither party should take our country past this point of no return.»
«These extreme election-year politics that put party power over everything else are why Americans are sick and tired of the duopoly of the two-party system of Democrats and Republicans,» Manchin added.
Cornyn, who is locked in a heated run-off election to win a fifth Senate term, called on Republicans in an op-ed Wednesday to consider ditching the filibuster Wednesday to pass a Trump-backed election bill. The measure, known as the (Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility) SAVE Act, is facing an uphill battle in the Senate due to expected unanimous opposition from Democrats. Under Senate rules, most legislation is subject to a 60-vote threshold to cut off debate and move on to final passage.
Former Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., sharply criticized Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, over his reversal on the Senate filibuster Thursday. (Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images; Sara Diggins/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)
The editorial was a notable shift for the Texas Republican, who previously defended the merits of the filibuster.
«For many years, I believed that if the U.S. Senate scrapped the filibuster, Texas and our nation would stand to lose more than we would gain,» Cornyn wrote. «But when the reality on the ground changes, leaders must take stock and adapt.»
Cornyn is currently vying in a two-man race against State Attorney General Ken Paxton, R-Texas, during which President Donald Trump’s endorsement could prove decisive. The president has repeatedly called on Senate Republicans to abolish the 60-vote requirement or pursue a rarely-tried talking filibuster and send the SAVE America Act to his desk. Paxton has previously come out in support of ending the Senate filibuster.
Cornyn is currently running in a two-man race against State Attorney General Ken Paxton, R-Texas. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
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Manchin, a former Democrat-turned-Independent who passed on running for re-election in 2024, alleged that Cornyn personally reached out to him after he defeated Democrats’ gambit to nix the 60-vote rule under former President Joe Biden.
In early 2022, Manchin supplied the critical vote alongside former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Republicans to tank a Democratic-led effort to abolish the filibuster and pass so-called voting rights legislation.
«It’s deeply disappointing to see that Senator Cornyn is now willing to scrap the very rule he once praised and personally thanked me for defending,» Manchin wrote.
At that time, Cornyn urged Democrats to preserve the filibuster while Republicans were serving in the minority.
«Power is fleeting and at some point the shoe will always be on the other foot,» Cornyn said in a floor speech. «Liberal activists may like the idea of nuking the filibuster today, but they’ll soon find themselves ruing the day their party broke the Senate.»
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Cornyn denied Manchin’s account Thursday. He has also argued that his reversal on the Senate filibuster was not aimed at winning Trump’s endorsement.
«There’s no Joe Manchins left in the Democratic Party and no Kyrsten Sinemas …this is an entirely different circumstance, dealing with Democrats who will not negotiate or consider anything that President Trump or Republicans want,» the Texas Republican told reporters. «We can either accept that or we can fight back, and I think we should fight back.»
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who has come under significant pressure from Trump and conservative influencers to pass the SAVE America Act, indicated Wednesday that the filibuster is here to stay regardless of Cornyn’s pleas.
«Senator Cornyn is one of 53 Republican senators, and the opposition to nuking the filibuster runs very, very deep in our conference,» Thune told reporters.
Congressional Republicans, President Donald Trump and the GOP base want voter ID turned into law, but one barrier stands in the way: the political reality of the Senate. (Leon Neal/Getty Images; Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
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Manchin has continued to sing the filibuster’s praises in his retirement, arguing that the 60-vote threshold protects the minority party and forces legislation to be bipartisan.
«The filibuster — the soul of the Senate — has preserved the Senate’s role for nearly 250 years as the institution that cools passions, protects minority voices, and demands consensus,» Manchin said. «America was built on institutions designed to resist political convenience, not surrender to it.»
Fox News Digital reached out to Cornyn’s office for comment.
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Un cardumen de sombras se desplazó bajo la superficie del Atlántico sur, rompiendo la rutina de la costa rionegrina. Más de cien tiburones bacota fueron avistados en las aguas del Golfo San Matías, en un fenómeno pocas veces documentado que sorprendió tanto a científicos como a residentes de la zona. El registro, realizado por el piloto de drone Maximiliano Facundo Cartes Salas, no solo aportó imágenes inéditas, sino que reavivó preguntas sobre la presencia y el comportamiento de esta especie en la región.
La especie protagonista de este avistamiento es el tiburón bacota (Carcharhinus brachyurus), también conocido como tiburón cobrizo. Se trata de un escualo costero de gran tamaño, que puede alcanzar hasta tres metros de longitud y superar los 100 kilos. En aguas argentinas, el bacota es el representante más común de su género y resulta fácilmente reconocible por su color dorsal bronceado y su potente silueta.
Alejo Irigoyen, investigador de CONICET en el Centro Nacional Patagónico (CENPAT), explicó a Infobae: “Es inusual y espectacular que hayan logrado filmarlos porque el Mar Argentino es de aguas turbias. Y es una especie que suele estar en zonas profundas, debajo de los cinco o seis metros por lo que no se ven. Con una marea muy baja y condiciones muy buenas lograron ver y filmar ese cardumen. Es como la primera vez que se ve algo así”.
Según datos de Proyecto Arrecife, iniciativa científica del CESIMAR-CONICET en Argentina enfocada en la conservación y uso sustentable de peces y hábitats marinos, especialmente tiburones patagónicos, la distribución del bacota es global pero fragmentada: habita zonas templado-cálidas de los océanos Atlántico, Pacífico e Índico, y en el Mar Argentino despliega un patrón migratorio que lo lleva de norte a sur durante la temporada cálida.
La concentración de más de cien ejemplares fue documentada en la Bahía de San Antonio, en la zona de Las Grutas y San Antonio Oeste. Las imágenes aéreas muestran una “constelación de siluetas” bajo el agua, que se desplazaban en conjunto y correspondían a animales de entre 2,5 y 3 metros y hasta 100 kilos.
La biología marina Florencia Fernández, integrante del Grupo CONDROS y el Centro de Investigación Aplicada y Transferencia Tecnológica en Recursos Marinos (CIMAS), remarcó a Río Negro que el registro “es impresionante”. Sostuvo que este tipo de hallazgos abren nuevos interrogantes: “¿Estas especies utilizan nuestras aguas en alguna etapa clave de su ciclo de vida? ¿Es un evento que ocurre todos los años o cada cuánto tiempo sucede?”.
Los especialistas coinciden en que el bacota suele aparecer en la región durante los meses más cálidos y que su presencia puede estar asociada a la reproducción o a desplazamientos migratorios. La región del Golfo San Matías reúne condiciones de temperatura y alimentación que favorecen estos agrupamientos, aunque la magnitud captada por el drone supera los registros previos en la zona.
El tiburón bacota está catalogado como especie vulnerable según la Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (IUCN), con poblaciones en descenso. Presenta características biológicas que lo hacen especialmente sensible a la presión pesquera: crece lentamente, alcanza la madurez sexual a los 20 o 21 años y tiene largos ciclos reproductivos, con pocas crías por camada. “Una hembra de Bacota tarda casi 20 años en tener su primera cría. Su crecimiento es tan lento que cualquier pérdida hoy tiene un impacto que la naturaleza tardará un cuarto de siglo en recuperar”, publicó Cartes Salas en sus redes sociales.
La especie es buscada por pescadores deportivos y, en ocasiones, capturada por flotas comerciales. Según los datos de Proyecto Arrecife, análisis recientes muestran una disminución anual de entre 13 y 29% en la abundancia de bacotas en aguas argentinas. Los científicos insisten en que la conservación de la especie requiere la cooperación entre Argentina, Brasil y Uruguay, ya que el bacota atraviesa fronteras en su migración.
El acceso a nuevas tecnologías, como los drones, permitió obtener imágenes inéditas de este fenómeno y facilitar el análisis de los especialistas. El material, obtenido por Cartes Salas, fue remitido de inmediato al Grupo CONDROS y al CIMAS para su estudio. La decisión de no revelar la ubicación exacta del avistamiento responde a la necesidad de proteger el enclave natural y evitar la pesca furtiva.
“Proteger este santuario natural es nuestra prioridad absoluta”, enfatizó Cartes Salas. La comunidad científica apoya la medida y solicita que toda interacción con la fauna marina se ajuste a prácticas responsables. Además, los especialistas destacan que el bacota no representa peligro para las personas. “En toda la historia del territorio argentino, jamás se registró una mordedura de esta especie a una persona”, aseguró Fernández.
El Golfo San Matías alberga una notable diversidad de especies: se han documentado doce tipos de tiburones y diecinueve de rayas, lo que confirma la riqueza de peces cartilaginosos en la región. El bacota cumple un rol regulador en el ecosistema marino, ayudando a mantener el equilibrio de las poblaciones de otras especies.
La difusión responsable y el trabajo coordinado entre investigadores y divulgadores resultan fundamentales para fortalecer la protección de especies clave y poner en valor la riqueza natural de las costas argentinas.
tiburones,avistamiento,oceano,mar,vida marina,drones,naturaleza,fauna,animales
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Manuel Adorni explicó por qué viajó con su esposa en el avión presidencial a la gira del Gobierno en Nueva York
