Great White Shark Tagged Off New Zealand Sets Record For Deepest Ever Known Dive
March 31, 2010
The world of technology and advanced electronics continues to help shed light in all of the marine sciences.
A recent press release issued by the New Zealand-based National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) reports that a New Zealand great white shark that they had tagged has set a world record for the deepest ever known dive of 1200 meters (3,937 feet).
“A big shark called ‘Shack’, the biggest shark we have tagged, at 4.8 metres (15.75-ft), has set the world’s deepest great white shark dive record,” says NIWA Principal Scientist, Malcolm Francis. “And he made several other very deep dive records between 1000 and 1200 metres while crossing the ocean. Prior to this, we had recorded several at around 1000 metres, so it’s quite a substantial extension.”
NOAA Gives Great White Sharks More Protection On West Coast In Gulf of the Farallones Sanctuary
October 2, 2009
Great White Sharks Given More Protection in Gulf of the Farallones Sanctuary
We in Massachusetts have had our share of great white stories and sightings this past summer, especially with the sightings and tagging of several great whites off the coast of Chatham and Monomy Island.
Prior to the past few years most of the great white shark stories were focused on the established great white shark population residing in the waters off the North-Central coast of California.
Many scientists and researchers in the marine community now believe that great white sharks, and many other large sharks, are being hunted, fished and caught at an alarming rate throughout the waters of the world.
Read more
Large Sharks Observed In Waters Off Chatham and Monomoy Island, Cape Cod
September 4, 2009
It looks like Chatham, MA is becoming the hot-spot for sharks in New England waters!
An article by K.C. Myers in the Cape Cod Times (September 4, 2009) reports that five large sharks, possibly great whites, have been spotted cruising in the waters just offshore the Monomy Island National Wildlife Refuge.
The refuge, home to an ever growing population of seals, now estimated to be in the thousands, has been in the news during the past few years due to several shark attacks on seals and great white shark sightings in the area.
The reports coming out of Chatham are very similar to those that are often reported around the Farallon Islands in California and other areas of the world where you find large seal populations. If you have a large seal population, then you can expect to find large sharks in the same area. Seals are one of the more highly prized prey items for great white sharks.
The article by K.C. Myers reports that Town of Chatham and Massachusetts state officials have issued warnings to the public urging people to avoid swimming where seals congregate.
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Possible Great White Shark Sighting In Waters Off Chatham on Cape Cod
August 20, 2009
A great white shark may be prowling the coastal waters off of Chatham, MA according to recent reports on Boston.com and other sources on Cape Cod.
Great white sightings are not unexpected in this area of Cape Cod at this time of year. Last July (2008), there were several great white sightings in the same area and also in the waters off Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.
With a growing population of gray seals living in the waters off Chatham and nearby Monomy Island, the odds of attracting the attention of a great white shark in the area have been increasing.
Seals are one of the more highly prized prey items for great white sharks.
Great White Tooth Found On Hampton Beach, NH
April 28, 2009
Read Patrick Cronin’s article on the Seacoastonline.com website for the complete story, including a photograph of the tooth. According to the article, Ms. Barber has been on a quest to identify the source and type of tooth that she found.
Initially, she thought it may have been from an extinct shark species called Carcharodon megalodon, the “megatooth” shark, which existed 2 million years ago.
Read more
Albino Whales In The News (Whale Shark and Southern Right Whales)
August 30, 2008
There were two interesting albino whale sightings in the news this week. Actually, we should correct that statement and set it straight as the whale shark is not actually a whale, but a fish – the world’s largest fish. The other creature was indeed a whale – an albino Southern Right Whale.
Both creatures are believed to be white because of a lack of pigmentation in their skin but they are expected to gradually turn to a darker colour as the years go by.
Whale Sharks, according to the Whale Shark Project website, have a circumglobal distribution in tropical and warm temperate seas and are typically found in areas of high plankton productivity. They are present mainly between latitudes 30° N and 35° S, but have been sighted as far North as New York on the US East coast and as far South as Tasmania. (Note: I couldn’t document or verify any whale shark sightings in New England waters ~ Mark Bransfield)
Do you know the name of the second largest fish in the world? It is the basking shark, a plankton eating, filter-feeding shark that is often seen in the coastal waters of New England.
Porbeagle Shark Breeding Ground On Georges Bank
July 21, 2008
A post on Canadian Broadcasting Center Online reports that scientists have discovered a new breeding ground for porbeagle sharks off Canada’s East Coast on the Candian portion of Georges Bank.
A research team located the mating area on Georges Bank earlier this month after hearing reports from fishermen that they were hauling up the large, blue-grey sharks in their nets. Steve Campana, a marine biologist who specializes in the species, said the find makes it only the second known breeding ground in the Northwest Atlantic for the fast, fierce-looking shark that can reach almost four metres in length.
Until now, scientists knew of only one breeding ground for porbeagles off Newfoundland and Labrador’s southern coast. The area was closed to directed shark fishing shortly after it was identified as a mating area.Campana said Fisheries managers are now reviewing the latest find to determine whether the area should be closed to shark fishing to stave off another collapse in the population.
The porbeagle fishery is worth an estimated $2 million annually on the East Coast, with 90 per cent of it going to markets in Boston.
To read the complete post, visit the following link:
Young 6-Ft. Long Female Great White Shark Washes Ashore on Nantucket
July 15, 2008
The shark washed ashore on a beach off Sheep Pond Road Monday and was discovered by several children on the beach.
Here are two links to follow for more information about the story:
- Shark Washes Up Off Sheep Pond Road, byBy Jason Graziadei,
Nantucket Inquirer & Mirror, July 14, 2008. This article has photographs of the shark.
Great White Shark Sighted Off Vineyard Beach
July 11, 2008
It is believed that the increasing population of seals year-round in the waters off Martha’s Vineyard is the primary reason for the increased number of shark sighting in the past few years.
Mark Alan Lovewell of the Vineyard Gazette has a report on this most recent sighting. To read it online, visit the following link:
Article: Swimmers Sent Out of Sea Following Shark Sighting By Mark Alan Lovewell, Vineyard Gazette
So far we haven’t heard of any recent great white sightings in the waters off of Greater Newburyport, including the North Shore and the New Hampshire seacoast.
Seal Attacked Off Monomoy Island
July 1, 2008
Monomoy Island National Wildlife Refuge is home to hundreds of seals and also a favored feeding ground for several species of sharks including the great white, mako, and thresher.
Capt. Littlefield estinmated that the seal that was attacked weighed 300 to 400 pounds and that the shark was between 14 and 16 feet in length. He believes that it was a great white shark.
There have been great white shark sightings in the Monomoy Island area over the past few years as the seal population has steadily increased.
A similar explosion in seal populations off the California and Mexico coastlines has resulted in many more observed shark attacks on the Pacific coastline. Unfortunately the California and Mexico coastal waters are shared by both seals and surfers.
This year at least three surfers and swimmers have been killed by sharks in the waters off the coast of California and Mexico.
Here is a link to the article by K.C. Myers that appeared on CapeCodOnline.com about the shark attack off Monomoy Island.
