Posted on 01/20/2022 12:21:06 PM PST by Capt. Tom
LOCAL NEWS Great white sharks have been a major focus along Cape Cod. More tiger sharks could be coming soon because of climate change Tiger sharks moving north ‘could have ramifications for human safety’
Tiger sharks are migrating farther north because of climate change, according to new research.
Move over, great white sharks. A new apex predator could be patrolling the Cape soon, as tiger sharks migrate farther north each year because of climate change and warmer oceans.
While waters off the Northeast have historically been too cold for tiger sharks, temps have warmed significantly in recent years and are now suitable for tiger sharks, according to researchers.
The shark scientists from the University of Miami warn that tiger sharks moving north could lead to more interactions between sharks and humans.
“Changes to where these predators go could have ramifications for human safety,” said Neil Hammerschlag, director of the Shark Research and Conservation Program at the University of Miami.
“So by moving into new locations, this could potentially increase encounter rates between tiger sharks and humans using the ocean,” he said, adding the results of the study are “alarming.”
The study from the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science revealed that the locations and timing of tiger shark movement in the western North Atlantic Ocean have changed from rising ocean temperatures.
The movements of tiger sharks, the largest cold-blooded apex predator in tropical and warm-temperate seas, are constrained by the need to stay in warm waters. As the waters continue to warm in the western North Atlantic Ocean, the researchers wanted to know what that means for tiger sharks.
“Over the past 40 years, tiger shark distributions have extended further poleward along with warming waters,” Hammerschlag said. “In fact, off the northeast United States, where it was historically way too cold for tiger sharks, these waters have now warmed to suitable levels for tiger sharks and they’ve moved into those areas.”
Hammerschlag and the research team discovered these climate-driven changes by analyzing nine years of tracking data from satellite-tagged tiger sharks, combined with nearly 40 years of conventional tag and recapture information supplied by the NOAA Cooperative Shark Tagging Program and satellite derived sea-surface temperature data.
During the last decade — when ocean temperatures were the warmest on record — for every one-degree Celsius increase in water temps above average, tiger shark migrations extended farther poleward by roughly 250 miles. Sharks also migrated about 14 days earlier to waters off the U.S. northeastern coast.
The scientists found that ocean warming has caused tiger sharks to shift their movements outside of areas that were previously protecting them from commercial fishing.
“As a result, they have become more vulnerable to commercial fishing,” Hammerschlag said.
The climate-driven changes to tiger shark movements could disrupt natural predator-prey interactions, he added, which could “lead to ecological imbalances in the ocean.”
Tiger sharks have been on the south side of Cape Cod in the canyons about a 120 mile away for at least 20 or more years.
So if the water does warm up enough, they may well move northward. - Tom
Sharks are dangerous. But they have a right to live too. Gotta be careful in those waters, it would be a very unfair fight.
WHEN YOU’RE IN THE WATER, YOU ARE IN THEIR WORLD. THEY ARE NOT IN YOURS...............
Is a bigger boat needed?
That. Looks. Like. One. Big. Ass. Tiger. Shark.
Good for him that they have a great "relationship", but...I think I would still stay in the boat. I guess I am old fashioned about these things...:)
I hope that they are vaxed, wearing masks and socially distancing.
Everything bad is due to climate change...or maybe due to me waking under a ladder the other day. Or maybe due to a black cat crossing my path. To see which requires falsifiable experiments...but being that none of these theories have anything to do with Empirical science we can just chose whatever we want without the need to verify its truth.
Has anyone else noticed they NEVER say what the temperature change has been and over what period of time? Why is that?
Kill some of the damn seals and sharks....and get this shark population in line with the human population. They don’t own the damn ocean.
Besides Tiger Sharks being well south of Cape Cod there are also Oceanic White Tips there too-Tom
Slow news day at the Boston Herald?
lmao.
Non-news.
I’m heading there for vacation this summer. Let’s just hope they find enough to keep them occupied at Martha’s Vineyard and Hyannis. I’ll be staying in Barnstable.
Now Tiger sharks are coming because of climate change. It would be hard to catalog all the things that are changing on account climate change… you know…excepting the climate…
Lions, Tigers, and Bears Oh My!
Lion Sharks, and Bear Sharks as well, oh my
I’m afraid it’s a shared commodity. They don’t own the ocean anymore than tigers and elephants own the earth...and birds and bugs own the skys.
Tiger sharks are migrating farther north because of climate change, according to new research.
A new apex predator could be patrolling the Cape soon, as tiger sharks migrate farther north each year because of climate change and warmer oceans.
While waters off the Northeast have historically been too cold for tiger sharks, temps have warmed significantly in recent years
Hammerschlag and the research team discovered these climate-driven changes
During the last decade — when ocean temperatures were the warmest on record — for every one-degree Celsius increase in water temps above average, tiger shark migrations extended farther poleward by roughly 250 miles.
The scientists found that ocean warming has caused tiger sharks to shift their movements outside of areas that were previously protecting them from commercial fishing.
The climate-driven changes to tiger shark movements could disrupt natural predator-prey interactions, he added, which could “lead to ecological imbalances in the ocean.”
So, my question is simple: Do they have idea why the sharks are coming north? [/s]
Feed them the Massachusetts congressional delegation ... and in case that is not enough, add that of Connecticut and Rhode Island ... and Bernie as dessert.
Can you fish for them and eat them? Had shark years ago and it was okay.
This “climate change” thing works kind of like the Y2K warnings in which airliners would FALL from the sky and nuclear missiles would LAUNCH themselves. In other words, every change must be had from our perspective: fewer honeybees, but more gnats; fewer butterflies, but more Asian killer bees; fewer squirrels, but more rats. And so forth.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.