CHATHAM,(USA)- Less great white sharks seem to visit the waters off Cape Cod this year. That’s what the researchers of Ocearch learned. In 2012 they tagged 17 great whites. Only 3 of those have returned this year.
Ocearch has started a Shark Search to learn more about these great predators of the Northwestern Atlantic Ocean. Ocearch has become famous for tagging severals white sharks and showing their swimming patterns realtime on their website.
Tagged and released
Only two weeks ago in their month long expedition off the coast of Chatham the scientists of the institute caught, tagged and released a 1,400 pounds female shark, they named Betsy. Last week they caught one which was named Katherine.
It makes a total of five. But even with a small sample size, only five tagged great whites, they’re learning a lot.
North Atlantic
“We’re beginning to understand the range of the North Atlantic female white shark…it’s a lot more dynamic than we thought,” says Chris Fischer, Ocearch founder in the video below.
GPS
When the crew catches a new shark several tags are attached. One being a GPS locator giving real time information any time the fin comes up out of the water. Other tanks measure speed, depth and direction of the sharks.
Read more at WHDH TV