OCEARCH is embarking on its 46th ocean research expedition Nov. 27 to further its knowledge of white sharks as they migrate to the Southeastern United States for the winter. Alongside 41 collaborators from 28 research institutions, the organization will help scientists collect data to support 24 science projects that will help them understand the history of the white shark in the Western North Atlantic Ocean.
During Expedition Southeast, OCEARCH’s goal will be to study mature animals to determine how they utilize their overwintering area and identify what oceanographic features and diet resources are important to them. Examination of these adult animals – particularly females – might also help scientists better understand the species’ reproductive cycle.
OCEARCH data shows a trend where larger animals demonstrate greater use of the waters off the continental shelf than juvenile animals, particularly adult females in the late winter and spring. As a result, Expedition Southeast will target coastal areas near North Florida, South Georgia and the Carolinas, as well as offshore areas closer to the continental shelf and the Gulf Stream.
The extensive range of habitat that white sharks use from December to mid-May extends from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to the Atlantic Coast of Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico.
“Unlike in the summer fall foraging area, where white sharks aggregate around feeding areas, they are much more dispersed and elusive throughout the region during this time period, making them challenging to find and study,” OCEARCH Chief Scientist and Veterinarian Dr. Harley Newton explained.
OCEARCH’s Western North Atlantic White Shark Study is the most comprehensive study of white sharks in the world and includes a full health assessment of each shark, microbiological studies, movement, temperature and depth studies through the use of three different tags. With 92 sharks studied in the Western North Atlantic Ocean, OCEARCH is in the last stages of its sample collection in this region. The team has just eight sharks left to reach its goal of 100 sharks sampled and tagged.
“At this point in our study, it’s all about filling in the remaining critical gaps. Expedition Southeast takes us to a place and time in the Western North Atlantic’s white shark range where we need to know what the sharks are eating, what environmental threats they’re facing, and, after we tag them, where they return to next summer. The work will be exciting but challenging, and each and every shark our science team is able to study will be pure gold,” said OCEARCH Senior Science and Academic Advisor Dr. Bob Hueter.
Expedition Southeast will depart from Jacksonville, Florida, on Nov. 27, with a final docking planned in Morehead City, North Carolina, on Dec. 15. You can explore alongside the team in real time on social media @OCEARCH.
