White Shark Conservancy Kicks Off 2017 Tagging Season

COURTESY OF THE ATLANTIC WHITE SHARK CONSERVANCY

ORLEANS – The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy formally kicked off their tagging season Monday with a fundraising event in Orleans.

The organization is in the 4th year of a 5-year white shark population study off Cape Cod.

Executive Director Cynthia Wigren said they’ve already been out on the water five times in the recent weeks, spotting white sharks on 4 occasions.

She said the early results indicate they’re going to have a strong season.

The conservancy has been tracking and tagging sharks off Monomoy and the Outer Cape for several years. Wigren said they’ll be adding a new research technique to their efforts this summer.

A balloon will be floated over Monomoy Island and Nauset Beach for five days with a camera mounted to the bottom.

“We’ll be able to watch shark behavior and have eyes in the sky at times that we would not be able to be out there,” she said.

Wigren said that will give them real-time data and images of sharks’ movement in local waters.

Dr. Greg Skomal, Cynthia Wigren and Wayne Davis at Atlantic White Shark Conservancy 2017 kickoff in Orleans

Shark researcher Dr. Greg Skomal said June has started just as they expected, with a handful of sharks already spotted.

“I anticipate as the water warms up and July hits, we’ll ramp up fairly quickly and I think July, August and September will be our peak months,” said Skomal.

Looking back on the 2016 numbers, Skomal said the number of sharks spotted plateaued compared to the year before at between 100 and 150. He also said their migration patterns seemed to trend further north along the Outer Cape.

“The density of sharks we’re seeing is increasing and areas can only accommodate so many sharks. So what happens is that they keep moving,” he said.

When they complete their study next year, the organization will be able to deliver a population estimate for white sharks in local waters, the first time that’s even been done in the northwest Atlantic Ocean.

“That will be something that can be used as a baseline for future conservation efforts,” said Wigren.

She said helping improve public safety and educating the public about the species have been some of their major accomplishments in recent years.

Skomal said they’re getting to the point where they will be able run some models and extrapolate population size in area waters.

 

 

 

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