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Photos Following the Shark
She and her colleagues have already identified a great white hotspot they call "The Great White Shark Café." This is a location between Baja and Hawaii that appears to attract multiple adult great whites and some juveniles during the winter and spring. While there, the sharks periodically dive 1,000 feet once every 10 minutes. It's unclear if the sharks dive there to feed, to mate or for some other purpose. The battery on the recently released great white SPOT tag runs out after eight months, so it's possible that its data might help to resolve the Shark Café puzzle if, that is, the shark survives. "We're keeping our fingers crossed that he'll make it past fishing nets and hooks to survive to adulthood, when he'll be more than three times longer than he is now," commented Jane Ellen Stevens, a principal investigator and editorial director at TOPP. She added that, instead of heading to Mexico or Hawaii, "he might even decide to make his fall and spring home territory around the Farallon Islands (off the coast of San Francisco). These rocky isles have enough seals to sustain large white sharks who live in the cold waters of the North Pacific Ocean." In May, the aquarium will begin its seventh white shark field season. Peterson said, "We hope to bring in another great white (for exhibit) during the summer or early fall."
Jennifer Viegas' blog: Born Animal TOPP Near Real-Time Animal Tracks |
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