The camera gives a rare glimpse into the behavior of the species.
For the second time, the team of the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy (AWSC) in Cape Cod, Massachusetts managed to attach a camera to a white shark, reports Fox News. Megan WintonAWSC fellow and Chip Michalovethe captain of Outcast Sportfishing caught and released a 2.7-meter-long female off South Carolina with a camera and GPS transmitter attached to her dorsal fin.
The tracker will broadcast the animal’s movements for about a year.
To date, AWSC has cataloged more than 700 great white sharks in the Northwest Atlantic. The newly marked specimen can also be tracked through the organization’s Sharktivity application.
The camera provides a rare insight into the shark’s behavior, while the sensors placed on its body record data about the environment and movements of the individual ten times per second. The camera itself detaches after about a day and then rises to the surface, sending signals that can be used to locate it.
Researchers hope the information will help them learn why specimens of the species return to North and South Carolina waters during the winter and spring months. “We know from historical records and tagging data collected over the past 15 years that the southeastern United States is an important wintering area for great white sharks,” Winton said, adding that it is not known exactly what the area is used for.
The specimen captured now is a Jason Flack named after a South Carolina resident who was the victim of a hit-and-run accident in February. The first marked LeeBeth it swam as far in the Gulf of Mexico as any previously tagged white shark had ever gone.
