Tag Archives: OCEARCH
7-foot mako shark tagged off Texas reappears off North Carolina’s Outer Banks
A 7-foot-5-inch-long mako shark tagged last year off Texas appeared Wednesday morning off North Carolina’s Outer Banks. His tracker pinged at 7:48 a.m. in the waters off Hatteras, a popular tourist area on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore,,, The shark has traveled more than 14,400 miles in 16 months, at times at speeds of up to 100 miles a day, researchers say.,,, “He’s the first mako we’ve tracked out of the Gulf of Mexico and into the Atlantic,” the organization tweeted. >click to read< 10:20
Famous 16-Foot Great White Shark Gone Missing
Mary Lee, the 16-foot Great White Shark that has had Twitter in a frenzy the past few weeks, has gone missing – electronically speaking. According to Ocearch, a conservation group set out to track and collect date from tiger and great white sharks, said her transmitter hasn’t had a “ping” since June 17, and no one has seen or heard from her since. Fans on twitter have been speculating her death, but never fear, it is more likely her tracker has lost battery power. click here to read the story 06:15
At one time, they were close collaborators. Great White Shark researchers spar over studies off Cape Cod
In 2012, OCEARCH operated under state Division of Marine Fisheries shark scientist Gregory Skomal’s federal permit to catch and tag great white sharks off Chatham. The next year, with Skomal again on board, the state allowed the big Alaskan crab boat the organization uses into state waters, less than 3 miles offshore. This June, citing concerns that any additional research on great white sharks within state waters could jeopardize a five-year population study led by Skomal, Division of Marine Fisheries Director David Pierce denied OCEARCH’s application for a research permit to catch great whites off Monomoy. “I’m concerned your proposed work would compromise our research by jeopardizing our study’s validity,” Pierce wrote to OCEARCH president Christopher Fischer in his June 30 letter denying the permit for state waters. In January, OCEARCH received a federal research permit from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s highly migratory species program to capture and tag a total of 75 sharks of varying species, including eight great whites, anywhere from the Gulf of Mexico all the way up the Atlantic coast. Read the story here 14:16
Ocearch says it’s found first-ever great white sharks birthing site off Montauk
Ocearch said its team of fishermen and scientists has found the first known birthing site for great white sharks on the North Atlantic Coast. After 26 expeditions, Ocearch said the birthing site in the famous waters off Montauk, Long Island is the most significant discovery they’ve ever made, reports CBS News correspondent Jeff Glor. “It’s kind of like step two in the science,” said Chris Fischer, founder of Ocearch and the expedition’s leader. “When we started this work back in 2012, 2013… the real question was where are these sharks in the North Atlantic giving birth? Because that’s where they’re most vulnerable.” For researchers, finding the North Atlantic birthing site can lead to better protection policies and far more scientific knowledge. Read the story here 13:26
Katherine the great white shark swimming off Grand Banks
A great white shark named Katherine spent most of the holiday season swimming near the Grand Banks off the south coast of Newfoundland. Marine research group Ocearch has been monitoring the shark’s location since August of 2013 with the help of a dorsal fin tracking device. The group says Katherine weighs more than 2,300 pounds and spans 14 feet in length. This is the second time the group has tracked a great white shark near Newfoundland. Read the article here 19:26
They got Beamer.
Beamer was a blue shark that used to enjoy swimming in the chilly waters off Montauk, New York. Last year, Beamer began swimming south towards the Caribbean and made it to the eastern Antilles by Christmas. The shark then made a straight swim towards Puerto Limon in Costa Rica; alas, Beamer ended up hooked on the lines of a commercial fishing boat somewhere between Portete and Moin. Read the rest here 18:52
Tagged in New York, Killed in Costa Rica: Beamer the Shark
Beamer was a blue shark that used to enjoy swimming in the chilly waters off Montauk, New York. Last year, Beamer began swimming south towards the Caribbean and made it to the eastern Antilles by Christmas. The shark then made a straight swim towards Puerto Limon in Costa Rica; alas, Beamer ended up hooked on the lines of a commercial fishing boat somewhere between Portete and Moin. Read the rest here 08:43
Not everyone happy about shark tagging off Chatham – “The methods they use appall me,” Skyler Thomas, “Stop OCEARCH” campaign.
We … are already failing to act in a responsible way to conserve sharks,” he said. “We have the data. It has simply been ignored. The best thing we can do for the sharks is get out of their way and leave them alone.”
Shark scientists already know nursery areas and migration patterns, Thomas added. more@wickedlocal 10:17
PHOTOS & VIDEO: In search of great whites off Chatham, Ma
Julia, a great white shark, has arrived on Cape in May for the last few years and usually spends until October around Chatham Inlet and Monomoy. But this year she eschewed Chatham in favor of Orleans. “For some reason we don’t know,” said Greg Skomal, a shark researcher with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. “Predictability is what you want when you try and manage beaches.” Manage BEACHES? more@wickedlocal 09:31
FINALLY!! They Caught One.
The team of scientists and fishermen on the OCEARCH expedition caught and tagged this summer trip’s first great white shark on Thursday afternoon. The team had been anchored off Chatham’s Monomoy Island for 17 days and fished for great whites for 12 of those days with the intention of catching and tagging as many as 20. They have a state permit allowing them to catch great whites within three miles of shore throughout the month of August. more@capecodonline
OCEARCH Research team sets out to tag great white sharks off Chatham shore
“We’re going to learn about how this animal lives from day to day,” said Greg Skomal, a state scientist and leader of Massachusetts’ shark research project, who set sail with the OCEARCH on Tuesday. The vessel is named after the nonprofit ocean-based research organization that spearheaded the trip and got the funding. continued@capecodtoday
