Imagine, if you can, a shark 20 feet long, hundreds of pounds of muscle and bones, and whose brain has developed over eons of time for one purpose and one purpose alone – to hunt.
That is the job of sharks across the globe regardless of their size. And the mere utterance of the word ‘shark’ evokes a singular response from humans – panic. That is, unless you are Dr. Gregory Skomal, well-known shark expert, frequent contributor on the Discovery Channel, and Marion resident.
On June 10, the Marion Natural History Museum hosted a program that featured Skomal as the guest speaker. Addressing a group of about 40 attendees at the Marion Music Hall, Skomal’s presentation sought to educate while gaining mindshare that sharks are far more complex than simple eating machines.
Skomal said that until recently, the study of sharks was pretty limited. They were nearly impossible to track, their behavior unseen except for those few who may have had the misfortune of a close encounter or if the fish surfaced to pursue prey. But, in 2009, an uptick in shark migration north, along with the development of sophisticated tracking tools that employ acoustic telemetry with satellite based technology, Skomal and his team began to learn much more.
Skomal said the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, of which he is closely connected, tags sharks allowing researchers to study the feeding and migratory patterns of sharks. He said, in 2015, AWSC tagged and/or identified 141 sharks, 41 from the previous year. One of the more fascinating aspects of tracking the sharks Skomal shared was the absence of feeding activity. The researchers learned that sharks simply bite their prey and wait for it to bleed out, descending into the depths where feeding takes place.
With more than 40 years of protection in the northeast, seal populations have soared, Skomal told the group.
“Seals are now rebounding. There are resident populations in the Weweantic River and in Sippican,” said Skomal. “That’s a whole lot of dinner. This is why we have this emergence of white sharks – new cafés.”
As seals move closer to shore in July and August, Skomal said the sharks move with them into waters as shallow as 5 feet deep. However, Skomal said, the white shark is a more temperate animal, feeding at cooler lower depths, perhaps 10,000 feet down.
“They go to dark water where the seals can’t see them and they wait,” Skomal said.
Skomal said receivers have been set up along the eastern seaboard primarily in Florida, but now with a new concentration of sites in the northeast. These acoustic arrays help cities and towns manage human activity on beaches while also providing scientific data on the animal’s behavior. He hopes to receive funding to set up receivers in Sippican Harbor and near Aucoot Cove, scene of the July 25, 1936 fatal encounter between a young swimmer and a great white shark.
Another organization Skomal is affiliated with is Ocearch. On the website www.ocearch.org, you can view the tracking information for a variety of marine species including the great white shark. The goal of the data collection is to “aid in conservation and education.”
“All these steps are baby steps,” Skomal concluded. “It lays the groundwork for building on technology.”
He said that in a couple of weeks the Discovery Channel will air a program on sharks with Skomal providing research information and, yes, he’ll be in the program. With an impressive command of the subject matter and an engaging, easy style, Skomal brought to light the importance of his ongoing work – to track and study white sharks. And, although most sharks are not aggressive towards humans, his fear is “a young juvenile shark doing something.”
For more information on great white sharks or other marine animals, you may visit www.atlanticwhiteshark.org or www.mass.gov Department of Marine Fisheries. And don’t forget to look for Skomal’s show on the Discovery Channel.
By Marilou Newell
