SARASOTA, Fla. -- Two years ago Tuesday, researchers with Ocearch and Mote Marine Laboratory outfitted their first shark with a satellite transponder to track her movements.
The non-profit research organization Ocearch tagged the 16 ft., 3,456 pound mature female great white shark named Mary Lee on September 16th, 2012. Mary Lee was the first white shark tagged using new technology giving scientists unprecedented data in near real time.
The shark was tagged off Cape Cod, but has traveled over 16,000 miles and has demonstrated that what scientist thought they new about white sharks was wrong. “She was clearly a pioneer that started to change the way we think about white shark movements. Up here off the coast of New England, we thought white sharks virtually disappeared in the winter time and Mary Lee came up here in the winter time. And her movements were much more dynamic than we had imaged,” says Dr. Gregory Skomal, a shark scientist with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.
He has helped the Ocearch team tag all the great white sharks. He says the huge Mary Lee definitely sticks out in his mind. “Being up close and personal with her on the Ocearch platform is really quite amazing and then to be able to follow her over the last couple of years has been really gratifying.”
Scientists have even learned that like people, some great whites enjoy spending time in water of the Gulf of Mexico in southwest Florida. The 14-foot Katharine and the 12-foot Betsy have both spent time in the Gulf. “Here we had direct evidence of them moving down from where we tagged them off the coast of Massachusetts into the Gulf of Mexico, so that was one of those eye-opening revelations that came with the technology,” said Skomal.
The shark satellite tags are designed to last five years, which is a mere glimpse into the life a white shark that has a life span of over 70 years.
Ocearch's Global Shark Tracker program now tracks dozens of sharks around the world.
Tonight at 8pm, you can get your Mary Lee questions answered by Chris Fischer, Dr. Nick Whitney of Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium, and the OCEARCH crew on a Facebook Chat.
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