Great White Shark returns to the sea

On Sept 21, a large Great White Shark was spotted swimming around a fairly shallow bay off of the Elizabeth Islands near Wood's Hole, Massachusetts. It was identified as a female that was about 14 feet long, and weighing about 1750lbs. This was a highly unusual event for this area, since it is not common for a Great White to come in so close to land at this most northern fringe of its range. It had become somewhat trapped in this bay because the only way in or out was through a narrow inlet, which at low tide was no more than 3 feet deep.

The excitement caused by its appearance, had not only the press but tons of people flocking to the area to get a glimpse of it. People were actually canoeing, kayaking, sailing and motorboating out to the shark as it swam around the shallow bay, often foolishly putting themselves in imminent danger by leaning over to try to touch the shark's fin, in some cases nearly tipping over their boats. Although the shark didn't seem too stressed by its predicament, and the nearness of so many people, the Division of Marine Fisheries of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, decided to protect the shark from harassment or injury by restricting access to the bay. Marine Biologist Greg Skomal was able to attach a tag to the shark which will collect data on its environment. After 6 months it will release from the shark, come to the surface, and then begin transmitting the data it has collected via satellite. Little is known about the Great White, so this information could prove very valuable.

During the last couple of weeks, Federal, State, and local officials worked together using various methods to try to help encourage the shark to move back out into the deeper waters where it normally lives. I am happy to report that this afternoon [Oct 4] the shark finally was able to make it out of the bay, and back into its normal environment, to the great relief of everyone. A number of videos were taken of the shark as it swam around the bay, and those, plus more detailed information on the shark can be accessed at the link above.