Scientists from the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy (AWSC) have successfully attached a camera to a great white shark named "Jason Flack," becoming only the second-ever great white shark to have a camera attached to them.
A move to help track and better understand the overwintering habitats of great white sharks.
While working off the coast of South Carolina, scientist Megan Winton and Outcast Sportfishing charter boat captain Capt. Chip Michalove caught a 9-foot female white shark and fitted a camera tag to her dorsal fin.
Additionally, the pair affixed a GPS tag to the fin, which will relay the shark's exact location every time it breaches the water's surface for approximately a year.
On the other hand, the camera will separate from the shark before coming to the surface and sending out a signal so scientists can find the camera.
The information from both the GPS and camera will be used by researchers to determine why white sharks visit the waters of the Carolinas in the winter and spring.
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The White Shark Catalog
In a news statement, the AWSC stated that it has updated its "White Shark Catalog" for 2024. The public can access the catalog, which is the most comprehensive source of images and details on specific white sharks throughout the Atlantic Coast.
The company's app, Sharktivity, will soon allow users to track the most recent shark, which will be fitted with a camera and GPS location. In addition to providing researchers with a "shark' s-eye" perspective, the camera mounted on the shark will record data about the animal's movements and surroundings ten times a second.
Together, the two also tagged LeeBeth, the great white shark that made headlines around the world when she was tracked farther west in the Gulf of Mexico than any other white shark in history. When Fox News Digital requested comment on the most recent shark to be tagged, AWSC did not immediately react.
Nevertheless, the charter skipper never would have imagined he would be able to catch a big white shark and equip it with research technology in the service of science.
Great White Shark Vulnerability
Conservation efforts supporting the species continue as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) continues to designate great white sharks as "vulnerable," a designation given to animals that are in great danger of going extinct in the wild.
Due to years of persecution by humans for their teeth and fins and frequent sport fishery trophies, great white shark populations are declining and becoming increasingly rare.
The white shark can get tangled in beach protection meshes and is frequently caught as bycatch by commercial fisheries.
At the moment, WWF funds studies and observations of white shark migration to and from the Gulf of California. Sharks are tagged, and satellites monitor their movements.
Their behavior will be useful in developing a management strategy for the Guadalupe Island Biosphere Reserve, the protected region where they are found. This plan will include measures to control tourists and prevent bycatch.
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(Photo: Tech Times)
