Posted on 06/01/2021 8:12:44 AM PDT by Capt. Tom
More tags bring fuller picture of movements off shore
The total number of great white sharks detected along the Cape has ballooned over the last few years as researchers continue to tag more of the apex predators each summer season.
Going back to 2013, there were only 11 individual sharks detected by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy off the Massachusetts coast, according to archived data from its new white shark logbook.
Then jumping ahead seven years to 2020, the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy detected 118 individual sharks last year.
The total number of recorded shark detections has also climbed at a similar pace during the last decade. There were only 10,803 detections recorded in 2013, compared to 134,631 detections last year.
Only three acoustic receivers were deployed in 2010, while researchers deployed 65 receivers last year.
“It’s important to remember that the receivers can only detect sharks tagged with acoustic transmitters, and there are still a lot of white sharks out there that haven’t been tagged,” said Megan Winton, research scientist with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.
“As scientists, we use the data collected from tagged sharks to give us an idea of what the population is doing as a whole,” she added. “People should think of the data provided by the Logbook the same way — as a proxy for shark activity off the coast.”
Overall, 231 individual great white sharks have been tagged with acoustic transmitters — “think of it like an EZpass for sharks,” Winton said — by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries since 2010.
However, the local researchers have documented more than 500 white sharks from underwater video footage, Winton said.
“Many sharks come back year after year, but not all of them use our waters the same way,” she said.
The average length of the 231 tagged sharks is 11.6 feet, and the female shark to male shark ratio is 1.3 to 1.
The acoustic receivers are deployed all along the Outer Cape, Cape Cod Bay, South Shore and even a couple receivers off the southern New Hampshire coast.
“When you look at the detection data, there are two immediately clear takeaways: White shark activity is highest along Cape Cod, and the Outer Cape in particular, where seal densities are highest, and white sharks have been detected all along the coast of Massachusetts,” Winton said. “They don’t occur exclusively off of Cape Cod.”
The top two spots where sharks were detected last year was Chatham Harbor Inlet South — where 91 individual sharks were detected for a total of 10,700 detections — and Truro, with 65 individual sharks and 9,024 total detections.
The most shark detections last year were in August (55,954 detections), followed by September (27,453), October (21,006), July (16,412), November (11,818), and June (1,485).
The most detections have been in August during the last four years. Before then in 2016, the most detections were in September. In 2013, the most detections were during July.
We are now into JUNE and any week now the first official white shark sighting will be documented.
This should be a busier than ever shark season in New England. -Tom
Increase the food supply and you increase the number of sharks. Same principle as if you want more bees, plant more wildflowers and clover in your lawn, stop going ape over dandelions and don’t buy lawn chemicals.
I'm so glad to live in Tax-free New Hampshire. Liquor's cheap, concealed carry is mandatory, you can hunt on Sunday and don't need to show proof of automobile insurance.
Yeah, we do have a few black flies now and again.
White sharks are a “protected” species in California.
Same here in New England-the seals are also protected.-Tom
Protect the seals, get the sharks. Simple enough.
New Jersey as well.
I have a question
how many shark attacks were there in New England in the last hundred years?
And if the answer is I expect it to be which is like one or two or three why do we care so much about tagging sharks ?
Q: Why do sharks never attack lawyers?
A: Professional courtesy.
Data from Global Shark Attack File shows sharks have spent summers in New England decades prior to the first shots of the American Revolution.
The first documented incident occurred in 1751 in Massachusetts. There have been 21 unprovoked incidents involving people and sharks in New England since that time, including one in Rhode Island last month.
Sharks have caused seven fatalities. The most recent came last year when a Revere man was killed while boogie boarding on Newcomb Hollow Beach in Wellfleet. It was the first shark-related death in New England since 1936, according to the data.
All but one of the recorded incidents involved a shark encountering a man. Six more attacks were determined to be provoked, usually an encounter offshore when the animals have been caught by fishermen.
The acoustic receivers are deployed all along the Outer Cape, Cape Cod Bay, South Shore and even a couple receivers off the southern New Hampshire coast.
Don't go to Hampton Beach!
You don’t want to go to Hampton Beach anyway.
They are having a big problem with gang fights on the beach lately. Bad enough that the Hampton police had to call in the state police for help.
With that being said, I did have dinner at Ron’s Landing on the very north end of 1A strip in Hampton Beach on Friday night.
Hampton Beach has become the big destination for Hispanic folks from the northern Merrimack Valley MA towns.
Not many, but here is part of the reason:>br< Remember that New England and Canada are the normal ranges of the white shark and seals. Nothing unusual about either species being here.
For many years Nature was allowed to take its course with Homo sapiens (you and me) doing the killing of both species. White sharks for their trophy jaw$ and meat, and seal$ for the bounty placed on them by Maine and Massachusetts, until the seal bounty ended in 1962. Killing them kept both species at minimal numbers.
Federal protection of both species changed that. More sharks around, more people in the water, expect more conflicts.-Tom
Let me correct my previous statement. They are not gang fights. They are having “fight club” gatherings on the beach.
These are being advertised on social media. People show up and go at it, 50+ on each side run towards each other and beat each other up.
These are being filmed and posted on the internet.
God Bless Diversity(sarc)
Not many, but here is part of the reason:>br< Remember that New England and Canada are the normal ranges of the white shark and seals. Nothing unusual about either species being here.
For many years Nature was allowed to take its course with Homo sapiens (you and me) doing the killing of both species. White sharks for their trophy jaw$ and meat, and seal$ for the bounty placed on them by Maine and Massachusetts, until the seal bounty ended in 1962. Killing them kept both species at minimal numbers.
Federal protection of both species changed that. More sharks around, more people in the water, expect more conflicts.-Tom
Maybe they can be trained to eat liberals
I love diving with sharks! Incredible and amazing creatures. A couple of years ago, in Monterey bay California , I was privileged to have a 12 ft white shark swim right by me while I was at 110 ft deep!
Tom-
A current video of California, mentions sharks on the East Coast.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/drone-video-captures-human-encounters-122009263.html
“A current video of California, mentions sharks on the East Coast.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/drone-video-captures-human-encounters-122009263.htmld
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I watched the video as you suggested. Nice video.
Remember white sharks (10 feet or less)that are young feed on FISH.
When they get larger (over10 feet +/-) they need to get more nourishment for their larger bodies, and switch over to SEALS and whale carcasses.
Here in Mass. we have the smaller whites come into Mass. bay , on the westerly side of Cape cod, and regularly attack and eat striped bass being reeled in by boats. No shortage of film on this happening.
On the other, easterly side of Cape Cod, the larger white sharks are there feeding on the seals. No shortage on film of that happening either.
IMHO when a white shark switches from eating fish, to eating seals is when it poses the biggest threat to people in the water. Sometimes the white shark how to kill and eat a seal learning experiences can prove fatal to us.-Tom
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