Monterey Bay Aquarium helps discover new Great White Nursery
A big discovery with the help of the Monterey Bay Aquarium involving the apex predator of the sea.
We’re talking about Great White Sharks. In the grand scheme of ocean studies, we really don’t know much about them. But the Monterey Bay Aquarium recently uncovered some information that will help them thrive.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium has plenty of sharks within it’s exhibits, but when it comes to the Great White Shark, there’s still a lot to learn.
“A number of these sharks seem to travel south below the border, and spend a significant amount of time off Central Baja,” said MB Aquarium Director of Collections, John O’Sullivan.
And it’s this pattern that got scientists rethinking how and where white sharks are raised.
“We used to talk about our sharks going to Mexico, but what we realized is maybe these sharks are returning to Mexico where they originally came from,” said O’Sullivan.
The aquarium, along with CSU Long Beach and a science center in Mexico, recently discovered a nursery for juvenile White Sharks.
“They need shallower, warmer seas. Their diet is much different than adults. Sharks under four years old are feeding on flat fish and other smaller sharks and rays,” said O’Sullivan.
For nearly two decades, scientists only knew of one White Shark nursery in Southern California.
“More than one nursery was needed for the population of White Sharks along the Eastern Pacific. Recently the Mexican Government stepped in and took this information and created a larger marina protected area,” said O’Sullivan.
It comes at a time when people’s perception of the Great White Shark is slowly changing for the better.
“Everybody thinks that great whites are the terribles of the oceans when really they’re just hanging out and living there. Fish gotta swim, bird’s gotta eat!” exclaimed Sarah Chmielewski of Salinas.
“They are contributing to the health of the ecosystem and the world because they’re part of that interplay of all species and if you lose those, that means that our world is in jeopardy,” said Julie Oswald of Salinas.
But despite the huge discovery of a new nursery, we still know very little about the mysterious Great White Shark.
“Even though we’ve published over eleven peer review manuscripts on our program and written six book chapters, White Sharks haven’t read anything we’ve written about them and they do what they want to do,” said O’Sullivan.
Scientists still don’t know exactly where sharks breed or give birth. However, with this discovery in Baja, juvenile White Sharks will be protected during their most vulnerable period of life, insuring that they can grow to continue playing a vital part in our ecosystem.
