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State scientists probe secrets of great white shark

E-mail|Link|Comments () March 3, 2010 07:20 PM

By Beth Daley, Globe Staff

Remember those great white sharks that swam so close to shore last summer officials closed some Cape Cod beaches?

At least two -- and likely a lot more -- are enjoying the warm water off Florida this winter, according to new research. And indications are they'll be back.

The sharks' whereabouts are being transmitted to state marine biologists from electronic tags they managed to affix on five of the mysterious, fierce creatures last September, providing some of the first-ever data on the Atlantic Ocean travels of great whites. A third shark's data is being transmitted now.

New England waters have long been known to host the occasional great white -- the iconic species made famous in the movie "Jaws" -- but they were considered rare visitors. The new findings, however, come as increasing numbers of the sharks have been seen closer to shore in recent years, perhaps to feed on growing colonies of gray seals that are populating the coast.

"These two sharks have turned out to be snowbirds,'' state Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles said at a news conference today in front of the shark tank at the New England Aquarium. "I'm hoping that the tags still on other sharks will tell us more about the travels of these great creatures."

Greg Skomal, a shark expert with the state Division of Marine Fisheries said he expected at least one of the sharks to go offshore, as better-studied Pacific sharks do. But the sharks hugged the coast and traveled 1,000 miles south in two months to hang out in waters off Jacksonville, Fla. He said sharks deep-dived to 1,500 feet at times on their travels.

"We are just beginning to understand them,'' Skomal said. "What is their size and population? That is a big blank."