American team returning to Atlantic waters to continue research on great white sharks

The North Atlantic Ocean holds countless puzzles, one of which, shark scientists are trying to solve.

“We've learned more in the last four years about white sharks in Canada than has been known since the beginning of time,” said Chris Fischer, the founder of Ocearch.

For the past four years, Ocearch researchers have been tagging and tracking great white sharks off the coast of Nova Scotia. The fact that sharks were in that area at all was news to some.

“People said we were crazy to even try to come up there to capture and sample white sharks and now we all know what it's like,” Fischer said.

The team's research revealed the apex predators don't migrate to this region to mate, but to feed and bulk up for the winter instead.

Tracking data shows some sharks are still in the Carolinas, but on their way to this area, and this month, researchers will follow them.

“We'll be starting up in Cape Breton and doing some work in that region for about a week or so. Before we slide up to the Maggies, the islands just north of Sydney, and then slide over to Newfoundland for the last week or so, on that south shore of Newfoundland, to try to explore what's over there, to put the kind of the last pieces of the puzzle,” he said.

The scientists wanted 100 sharks for their research project. Five years ago, Fischer said people told him that was impossible.

“Right now, we have 84 sharks, so we're looking to close the gap on that last 16 for our science team before we proceed over to solve the life history puzzle of the Mediterranean white shark,” said Fischer.

Meanwhile, scientists at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Nova Scotia and other researchers in Massachusetts are doing their own shark research.

Fred Whoriskey, the executive director of the Ocean Tracking Network, said sharks have been tagged off Cape Cod where there’s a new seal colony.

“We're finding these migratory sharks from that Massachusetts group in various Canadian sites up here in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in the Bay of Fundy, off the coast of Newfoundland,” Whoriskey said.

“Nobody was ever doing this work before, so we're not entirely sure whether the sharks were here before versus whether we're learning something that's totally new.”

What is clear is sharks are swimming in waters around Atlantic Canada and scientists want people to be shark-aware. They note attacks are extremely rare and there's no need to stop swimming, but say it's best to avoid offshore islands and seals.

“So, we don't want to behave like a seal. Don't go swimming at dawn and dusk. Don't go swimming all by yourself. If you cut yourself and you're bleeding badly, don't go swimming,” said Whoriskey.

While there was a reported shark attack in Cape Breton last summer, Whoriskey says that attack has not been confirmed.

He wants people to treat the ocean like national parks, where there is no need to stay away from them but if you're going to venture in, be smart about it.