Scientists study what great white sharks are doing in the mid-Atlantic

An OCEARCH crew caught, tagged and took blood samples from some tiger sand sharks during its recent mid-Atlantic expedition. (Courtesy OCEARCH)

Editor’s note: This is the second article in a four-part series about sharks on WTOP. Catch up and read the first article about the start of Shark Week and scientists’ concerns about shows sensationalizing the fear associated with sharks.

CAPE MAY, N.J. — What are great white sharks, or what scientists call simply white sharks, doing in the mid-Atlantic?

A ship loaded with experts recently visited the region’s coast to try to find out.

The expedition by the nonprofit group OCEARCH began in Norfolk in late June with the goal of tagging mature white sharks in the region that includes Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia.

Sharks tagged by OCEARCH can then be followed online in near-real time through the Global Shark Tracker.

On the day WTOP’s Michelle Basch visited the group’s 126-foot research vessel, which is a decommissioned crab boat, it was anchored in the Delaware Bay between Delaware’s Cape Henlopen State Park and Cape May, New Jersey.

“We chose this region because this is the … last spot along the Atlantic coast that we have not fished,” said Dr. Mike Hyatt, staff veterinarian at Adventure Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey and chief scientist for the expedition. “We really wanted to check out this area, and following the sharks that we have tracked, they definitely utilize this area. They come through here,” he said.

An OCEARCH crew caught, tagged and took blood samples from some tiger sand sharks during its recent mid-Atlantic expedition. (Courtesy OCEARCH)
An OCEARCH crew caught, tagged and took blood samples from some tiger sand sharks during its recent mid-Atlantic expedition. (Courtesy OCEARCH)
An OCEARCH crew caught, tagged and took blood samples from some tiger sand sharks during its recent mid-Atlantic expedition. (Courtesy OCEARCH)
The OCEARCH is a 126-foot research vessel that just wrapped up its 29th shark tagging expedition along the mid-Atlantic coast. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
The OCEARCH is a 126-foot research vessel that just wrapped up its 29th shark tagging expedition along the mid-Atlantic coast. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
OCEARCH is also the name of the nonprofit group that operates the ship, tags and tracks sharks, and allows researchers access to the fish for study. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
OCEARCH is also the name of the nonprofit group that operates the ship, tags and tracks sharks, and allows researchers access to the fish for study. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
OCEARCH founding chairman and expedition leader Chris Fischer told WTOP about the importance of sharks to the marine food web. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
OCEARCH founding chairman and expedition leader Chris Fischer told WTOP about the importance of sharks to the marine food web. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
If this kind of boat looks familiar, it's because the OCEARCH is actually a decommissioned crab boat. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
If this kind of boat looks familiar, it’s because the OCEARCH is actually a decommissioned crab boat. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
The smaller Contender is used by the OCEARCH team to catch sharks and tag them. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
The smaller Contender is used by the OCEARCH team to catch sharks and tag them. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
A group of researchers and guests pose for a photo aboard the OCEARCH. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
A group of researchers and guests pose for a photo aboard the OCEARCH. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
Mike Hyatt, chief scientist of OCEARCH, leads a science brief, where scientists spoke about their projects aboard the OCEARCH. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
Mike Hyatt, chief scientist of OCEARCH, leads a science brief, where scientists spoke about their projects aboard the OCEARCH. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
This smaller vessel is called a SAFE Boat and is used to bring visitors to the OCEARCH. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
SAFE Boats is a manufacturer that supplies military and law enforcement agencies. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
SAFE Boats is a manufacturer that supplies military and law enforcement agencies. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
Some OCEARCH scientists aren't pleased with the sensationalism surrounding sharks, which they say is continued by movies like "Jaws" and programs like "Shark Week." (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
Some OCEARCH scientists aren’t pleased with the sensationalism surrounding sharks, which they say is continued by movies like “Jaws” and programs like “Shark Week.” (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
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An OCEARCH crew caught, tagged and took blood samples from some tiger sand sharks during its recent mid-Atlantic expedition. (Courtesy OCEARCH)
The OCEARCH is a 126-foot research vessel that just wrapped up its 29th shark tagging expedition along the mid-Atlantic coast. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
OCEARCH is also the name of the nonprofit group that operates the ship, tags and tracks sharks, and allows researchers access to the fish for study. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
OCEARCH founding chairman and expedition leader Chris Fischer told WTOP about the importance of sharks to the marine food web. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
If this kind of boat looks familiar, it's because the OCEARCH is actually a decommissioned crab boat. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
The smaller Contender is used by the OCEARCH team to catch sharks and tag them. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
A group of researchers and guests pose for a photo aboard the OCEARCH. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
Mike Hyatt, chief scientist of OCEARCH, leads a science brief, where scientists spoke about their projects aboard the OCEARCH. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
SAFE Boats is a manufacturer that supplies military and law enforcement agencies. (WTOP/Michelle Basch)
Some OCEARCH scientists aren't pleased with the sensationalism surrounding sharks, which they say is continued by movies like "Jaws" and programs like "Shark Week." (WTOP/Michelle Basch)

“We’re starting to get a handle on what’s going on in the Northeast and the Southeast, and we’re wondering how and when they’re leveraging the mid-Atlantic,” said Chris Fischer, OCEARCH founding chairman and expedition leader.

Last year, OCEARCH tagged nine baby white sharks, or pups, off the coast of Long Island in what appears to be a shark nursery.

“We saw those nine sharks last year swimming from Long Island down into the Carolinas and back up,” Fischer said.

It’s not clear yet how far south that nursery extends.

“We still don’t know much about the area, how they utilize it, if they could be potentially using it as a pupping ground,” said Hyatt.

“We know they’re gathering off the Cape Cod-Nantucket region in the fall. We believe they’re mating there. We’ve tracked a big female from there into this Long Island region. We believe that they’re birthing there in May and June. We know they’re overwintering in the Southeast, primarily we believe to forage. So the puzzle’s coming together,” said Fischer.

During the mid-Atlantic expedition, the researchers did not manage to catch any white sharks.

“We thought that they would be moving through here, staging in here. But we get here and the water’s really too warm,” Fischer said.

But not all was lost. The crew caught, tagged and took blood samples from some tiger sand sharks.

See video of it here:

Michelle Basch

Michelle Basch is a reporter turned morning anchor at WTOP News.

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