"We're going to need some more tags."
Posted on 10/26/2014 2:24:01 PM PDT by Capt. Tom
There has been a lot of effort in the last few years put into tagging and identifying individual white sharks on the east side of Cape Cod, especially in the Chatham area.
Even though I have always had good info on what is happening with these white sharks, I was surprised by the number of whites that hang around that area. They are tagged, filmed by researchers and pleasure boaters, individually identified, and documented, in such a small area. On the east side of Cape Cod we are talking about an area 20 miles long and not very wide since the tagging and spotting is done close to shore in shallow water, and the distance is limited by the range of the tagging boat which comes out of Chatham.
It is impractical to run out into deep water to try to tag a shark that might go down before you get there, or to run long distances when there are so many sharks nearby- so local shallow water is where the spotting and tagging takes place. And the reasearchers are getting really good at documenting and tagging those sharks.
Amazingly, they have documented sixty (60) individual whites in that small area and have tagged about 55 through the years. They could have tagged more but they run out of expensive tags and have to restock. They have gone out with 3 tags and the spotter plane has spotted as many as 15 different white sharks in tagging range; but only 3 will get tagged on that day. Then they wait till they can buy more tags, regroup, and get a good weaher day to go back out.
I mentioned to the spotter pilot , that we have whites in an area we fish near Peaked Hill on the north side of Provincetown. Two of my friends while separately tuna fishing have hooked up on them, one broke off, and one was brought alongside and released. The shark was within 3 feet of view and they saw triangular serrated teeth a white shark feature. They have so many untagged sharks at Chatham they just don't need to tag that far north. It is about another 30 miles to that area.
The pilot told me an interesting story about that area I mentioned -he normally flies and turns back a few miles south of Provincetown, but about a week ago he kept going and looked the area over and saw 5 white sharks there, and here is what he sent me in an e- mail along with some photos of the white sharks there:
"the last 3 are all north of Golf ball.......the 2nd one is a GWhite that just burst thru the surf outbound......I missed it w/my camera, but I saw it RIGHT ON TOP of the surf when he plunged thru the wave heading offshore.....pretty neat...ENJOY!!
Tom here- When I saw his photo of the white shark just clearing the surf it looks like it could have grounded itself if it did not get out of the surf and into deeper water, I am familiar with that stretch of beach as we bass and bluefish there.
There are also more white sharks inside the Bay on the Plymouth side, and when you put the whole picture together there are plenty of them around in Mass. waters.
People ask me, why are there so many white sharks around lately, . To me two reasons leap out. This is their normal range, and they have been protected since 1997. That's 17 years to make a comeback and it seems to be working at least in my little area of the world. -Tom
It is interesting. Thanks, Cap’n.
Thanks. I did not know their populations had rebounded nor that they were protected. State voters here in CA protected mountain lions some years ago and they are all over now. You can’t enter a county or state park without man lion warning signs. Humans are sure nice to let bears, wolves, lions, and sharks back on top of the food chain. Nothing I like better than being afraid that I’m going to be some critter’s dinner when I’m hiking and swimming.
/johnny
When I think of how many times I have swam off Chatham...
Harding’s Beach, the Chatham Bars Inn. One we took my uncle’s boat out to sand bar and had a BBQ.Remember that, Dad? And the whole time we were in Jaws territory!
"We're going to need some more tags."
And, to think, that at the time of filming ‘Jaws’ in the Cape cod waters, there had not been any sightings of any great white sharks, ever!
The big attraction for the white sharks is that when they get around 12 long they start feeding on marine mammals.
Seals in Mass. had a bounty on them until 1962, then it was the Federal Govt. who protected them in the Marine Mammal Protection act in 1972.
There was an insignificant amount of seals around then, but the population has exploded to the point some fisheries are being depleted by the seals on Cape Cod.
Seals are still protected, and the Fed Govt. doesn't seem inclined to cull them to reasonable numbers. -Tom
Odd are, given where they, any human they get will be an ultra lib so it’s all good.
A friend who has been directly involved in the tagging, told me they follow some of these sharks for many miles until they can tag it correctly.
These tags cost thousands of dollars and must be placed properly to stay in for long periods of time.
Some of the sharks cruise up the beaches in less than 5 feet of water and when the taggers are following a shark past beachgoers, he can hear them say"Why is that boat so close to shore in here".( NOW the people know enough to get out of the water if they see a tagging boat anywhere near them.)
In some cases the white sharks are 16 feet in length,and just below the surface and the people at the waters edge, because of the surface glare, can't pick the shark out which is just ahead of the tagging boat and right in front of them. -Tom
My parents retired to Chatham in ‘97. But my Mom’s mom lived there from ‘68, I think. I have been to Chatham many times..
Big fish fun!
Food for sharks!
Shark magnets!
Nice photo. But to truly appreciate the impact of these seals, one must bring a boat close along the shore. The amount of feces in the water is staggering, as is the odor. Imagine a barnyard with several hundred pigs.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts dutifully monitors the water quality - up current from the haul out area! No problem here. /s
And they test the water for human, pig, and dog feces but not seal. No problem here! /s
Typical libs in charge!
I lived in Chatham for four years. We spent a lot of time at Harding’s Beach in the summer. We were always alert for the presence of these brutes.
I spoke to the spotter pilot this morning.
Yesterday was his last spotting day this year.
He said the water was murky but he saw 6-8 white sharks at Chatham.
One was tagged, 2 more white sharks were identified.
Yesterday was his last spotting day this year, although whites in diminishing numbers, will be in the Chatham area probably until Christmas.
Another pilot who keeps a plane at Chatham is available if more tagging is done.-Tom
There have been a lot of seals the past few summers.
When I spoke to the pilot this AM he told me he took a photo of a white eating a seal yesterday. I will find that photo and put it up on this thread, or at least a link to it. -Tom
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