The non-profit Atlantic White Shark Conservancy (AWSC) group reveals it spotted Saturday the season’s first great white shark off North Beach of Cape Cod in New Orleans.
The shark was seen by pilot Wayne Davis and was named Ping by Hillary Waterman, AWSC drawing winner. The sighting, which has been customary during the season, came two weeks ahead than the sighting schedule last year.
“The shark was identified as a female and estimated to be 12-14 feet long. She is now part of the Massachusetts Shark Research Program white shark population study,” AWSC wrote in its Facebook account.
On board a boat, three AWSC researchers were studying the great white shark population when they found the female white shark and were looking at the possible number of white sharks that visit Cape Cod annually. A plane and a boat were deployed twice a week to search for these Great Whites.
“Conservation of white sharks is a key factor in the ocean legacy we leave to future generations,” read AWSC’s statements on the website.
AWSC was put up to support research and education programs geared on white shark population, to guarantee that the species increases.
A study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration discloses that such shark types are rushing off the Canada and Eastern U.S. following years of decline. Published at PLOS ONE journal, it also reveals that the white sharks population keeps on climbing since 2000 in the western North Atlantic.
Sharks were previously seen off the Nauset Beach. A lifeguard at Nauset saw a dorsal fin about 150 yards off the shores last summer. Then in 2012, a sea kayaker from New Orleans went on to have a close encounter with a great white shark. In other cases, the Great Whites were sighted in the Atlantic.
This kind of fish specie is, however, vulnerable according to the International Union for Conservation Nature. It, however, appears to be in the process of recovering, says study author Cami McCandless.
‘‘The species appears to be recovering,’’ McCandless said to Boston.com. ‘‘This tells us the management tools appear to be working.’’
Another recent study in the PLOS ONE journal also says that these great white sharks are going back to the eastern north of the Pacific Ocean. It says the abundance of Great Whites in the western part of North Atlantic decreased by around 73 percent from 1960s to 1980s. At present, the decline of white sharks is only 31 percent from the estimated percentage around 1961.
