Scientists monitoring the white shark population in the waters off Massachusetts’ Cape Cod are attaching improved sensors, including cameras, to the predators to help scientists keep track of their whereabouts and to keep beachgoers informed and safe, researchers said.
The program comes just as tourists are filling up hotels and rental properties on the Cape for the summer — and white sharks are returning in greater numbers to feed on the region’s abundant seals.
Interactions between white sharks and humans are rare. But the risk is still there. There have been five in Massachusetts since 2012 — three of them classified as bites, one of which was fatal, said Greg Skomal, the state Division of Marine Fisheries shark expert.
A shark warning alerts beachgoers at Lecount Hollow Beach in Wellfleet, Mass., on May 22, 2019. Scientists monitoring the white shark population in the waters off Cape Cod are stepping up their game by attaching more highly sophisticated sensors that include cameras to the predators to help keep beachgoers informed and safe.
“So as a result, we’ve intensified our research off the Cape to study various aspects of white shark behavior,” Skomal said.
For more than a decade, the fisheries division and the nonprofit Atlantic White Shark Conservancy have tagged about 300 sharks with acoustic sensors that emit a high-frequency sound to an array of receivers along the coast. Public safety officials and lifeguards are notified when a shark swims within range of an acoustic receiver.
This year, researchers are attaching more camera sensors to the predators.
They capture more than just video. The sensors can detect a shark’s depth, direction, surrounding water temperature and whether it’s accelerating or slowing down. The technology allows scientists to monitor the sharks on a second-by-second basis, Skomal said.
Megan Winton, a staff scientist at the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, calls it giving smartphones to sharks.
“They’re outfitted with an incredible array of sensors that tell us about the animal’s movements and their environment,” she said, adding that it’s “essentially just riding on the back of a white shark.”
The information is downloaded to a free app available to the public to reduce encounters and promote safety.
One video captured by a camera tag clamped to a shark’s dorsal fin shows the predator moving into water about 4 feet deep close to shore to go after a seal, stirring up a storm of sand from the bottom. The seal ultimately escaped.
Sharks are patient hunters.
“They slowly patrol the shoreline very methodically until they essentially have a chance to make their move,” Winton said.
The technology also has provided insight into how curious sharks are. They have been seen coming to the surface to nibble a lobster buoy or check out a bird or some other piece of flotsam, she said.
Researchers also have started using drones to help spot sharks from above, a method that has been used in other parts of the world, including Australia, Skomal said.
The drawback of the sensor system is that if a shark has not been tagged, it won’t be detected. But the program does its best to provide information to the public so they can make informed decisions while at the beach.
“We want them to understand these animals and their habits the way we do,” Winton said.
5 things you might not know about sharks
1. Humans vs. sharks
Updated
When it comes to humans versus sharks, the numbers are staggering. An average of 6 humans are killed worldwide each year by sharks, while humans kill 100 million to 273 million sharks annually, selling their body parts in markets around the globe.
A surfer rides the waves along Mexico’s Pacific Coast near El Rancho village, Wednesday, May 28, 2008. Sharks have attacked three surfers in the area in less than a month, two fatally. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
2. They’re old
Updated
Sharks were swimming in the ocean depths long before dinosaurs climbed onto land. Researchers say sharks date back 400 million years.
In this March 16, 2011, photo children look at the Shark Jaw of a Megalodon, a prehistoric shark, at the Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas. The jaw is 11 feet wide and almost 9 feet tall, it consists of 182 teeth collected from South Carolina rivers. (AP Photo/Rich Matthews)
3. 465 species
Updated
There are 465 known species of sharks, ranging from the tiny spined pygmy shark (about 8 inches long) to the whale shark (about 50 feet in length). Each of these sharks plays a role in keeping other fish populations in check, which is why hunting and killing of sharks can create great imbalances in ocean life.
A diver feeds fish to a male whale shark at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium-amusement park complex in Yokohama near Tokyo, Saturday, June 11, 2011.(AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)
4. Not a ‘miracle of evolution’
Updated
Richard Dreyfuss’ character in “Jaws” claimed that the shark is “a miracle of evolution,” and that the only thing it does is “swim and eat and make little sharks, that’s all.” That’s not exactly correct.
Sharks have to eat, like every other living organism, but they don’t mate until they are 12 to 15 years old. The females give birth to one or two pups at a time, making it difficult for the sharks’ reproduction rates to keep pace with the annual kill rates.
FILE – In this Tuesday, July 3, 2012 photo, Rima Jabado, a marine scientist and shark researcher pulls up a baby spottail shark from the water for the tagging off the Dubai coast, United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)
5. A sixth sense
Sharks are extraordinary hunters, who use six senses. In addition to smell, hearing, touch, taste and sight, they also are gifted with electroreception — special pores around their faces detect electrical currents from other organisms and allow them to deftly hone in on their prey.
A Sand Tiger Shark swims in its aquarium at the Zoo-Aquarium in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
Visit The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.) at www.mercurynews.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
