After one other profitable shark analysis season alongside Cape Cod, native scientists have now tagged greater than 300 nice white sharks since their tagging program began greater than a decade in the past.
Greg Skomal of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, working with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, tagged 34 white sharks off the Cape throughout 22 analysis journeys this season.
Since the Division of Marine Fisheries started its tagging program, 304 particular person white sharks have been tagged off the Cape.
Also, the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy for the second yr used drones to gather video footage of white sharks in Cape Cod waters. The scientists have been whether or not the expertise is efficient for shark surveillance off the Cape.
Many folks have proposed utilizing drones as a shark surveillance expertise at native seashores, however the concern is that sharks may disappear from sight when the Cape waters flip murky.
“The footage collected is being used to investigate potential relationships between environmental conditions and predatory behavior and to evaluate the potential efficacy of a frequently proposed shark surveillance measure,” the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy posted.
As 2023 involves an in depth, we want to replicate on this yr’s area season. @GregSkomal of the @MassDMF, working with the AWSC, efficiently tagged 34 white sharks off Cape Cod throughout 22 analysis journeys carried out from July – October. pic.twitter.com/D6y9bNljdK
— Atlantic White Shark Conservancy (@A_WhiteShark) December 14, 2023
AWSC senior scientist Megan Winton was lately down in South Carolina, the place she tagged a virtually 3,000-pound large nice white shark. Winton and others had been capable of connect 4 tags to the shark, together with a satellite tv for pc spot tag that folks can observe on the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s Sharktivity app. The shark named “LeeBeth” has since been pinging off of Georgia.
Meanwhile, a few sharks have been detected off the Massachusetts coast, even within the chilly mid-December waters. The practically 10-foot male white shark named “Cabot” was detected off of Orleans this week, and the 10-foot feminine white shark named “Rose” was detected in Cape Cod Bay close to Sandwich, in accordance with the OCEARCH shark tracker.
Last month, members of the AWSC workforce attended the White Sharks Global convention in Australia.
Winton introduced on her first-of-its-kind inhabitants estimate that was revealed earlier this yr. She discovered that about 800 particular person white sharks visited the waters off the Cape from 2015 to 2018. This rely of 800 sharks is the first-ever estimate of white shark abundance within the North Atlantic Ocean.
“The conference provided a valuable opportunity to share information with the international white shark science community about ongoing research and education programs and learn from scientists working at other white shark hotspots around the world,” Winton stated. “The last white shark focused conference was held in 2010, just as Cape Cod was emerging as a new hotspot.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”