Great White Shark Expedition Launched Off the Coast of Cape Cod

First Posted: Jul 31, 2013 10:34 AM EDT
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Expedition Cape Cod 2013 led by OCEARCH has finally set for its month long sojourn July 30, with an aim to capture, tag and release as many as 20 great white sharks off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In recent years this area has seen a rise in the number of shark visits.

This mission, in collaboration with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), will focus on garnering knowledge about these enormous sharks and educating the public about the importance of these sharks. It is the largest shark tagging mission in the history of the United States.

'Expedition Cape Cod 2013' is the 17th mission led by the Chris Fischer, the Founding Chairman of OCEARCH. This mission plans on providing top scientists a minimum of 15 minutes with each shark to carry out their scientific studies.

"This expedition brings together an amazing team of researchers with broad experience in multiple disciplines. In doing so, we will be conducting over a dozen studies on white sharks, ranging from broad and fine scale migratory patterns to sonograms.  Our knowledge base on Atlantic white sharks will grow exponentially, helping both science and public safety," stated Dr. Greg Skomal, MA Division of Marine Fisheries Senior Scientist and WHOI Adjunct Scientist, who is leading the collaborative team.

This year's expedition will be different from the 2012 Cape Cod expedition as the researchers will be working in a region known for its dense seal population.

According to the WHOI researcher Simon Thorrold, during the expedition the scientists will collect blood and tissue samples from individual sharks so as to gain more knowledge about their health and diet. The sharks will be tagged and with the help of GPS the scientists will monitor where the sharks are heading and the temperature and depth of the water they dive in.

A shark named Lydia was tagged by OCEARCH scientists this year off the cost of Florida. The Global Shark Tracker helps you track Lydia and other tagged sharks.  

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