White Shark by Greg Skomal
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Embracing Great White Sharks in New England

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Categories: Creature Features

I’ve always been fascinated by the shark species that inhabit our oceans. As a young girl, I saw my first shark on a whale watch trip out of Newburyport, a basking shark slowly cruising by. As an adult, I’ve had incredible underwater experiences with sharks. I’ve seen great hammerheads and nurse sharks in Nicaragua, whale sharks in Mexico, and great whites in South Africa.

In South Africa, my husband and I were the first to jump in the cage when a great white shark was spotted near the boat. I ducked my head under water and there she was, swimming gracefully by, cautiously checking us out. It was awe-inspiring and absolutely love at first sight (for me, I can’t speak for the shark)!

Around the same time, great white sharks off Cape Cod were making headlines. 2009 marked the first time white sharks had been successfully tagged and tracked in Western North Atlantic waters. I was thrilled to know this amazing species was spending time close to our shores.

Last summer, I had a conversation with Dr. Greg Skomal from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) about his work with white sharks in our area. I was surprised to learn that the DMF does not directly fund white shark research, so Dr. Skomal and biologist John Chisholm, rely on outside help for shark projects. This sparked the idea to form a nonprofit that would support local shark research and education, and with that Atlantic White Shark Conservancy was established.

Over the last six months, I’ve spent a great deal of time talking to shark researchers and enthusiasts around the world.  I’ve learned a lot about the pressures facing numerous shark species globally (finning, overfishing, bycatch), as many populations have seen devastating declines.

Locally, I’ve begun spreading the word about our shark conservation work. What better place to gain support than in New England, where people are passionate about the marine environment. If they love whales, dolphins, and turtles, they must love sharks, right? Not necessarily. I’ve been told by people who care deeply about other marine species off the coast of Cape Cod, that they are not interested in shark conservation. Why the lack of concern for sharks? Fear. Come on New Englanders! We are of hearty stock and brave winters that would bring most people to tears. With regard to sharks, a quick Google search will give you stats on animals in the U.S. that are more likely to kill you than sharks (cows, dogs, horses).

I believe it’s time to face our fears, use our heads, and open our hearts to the beauty of the great white sharks that travel along our coastline. They certainly have more to fear from us than we do from them. Plus, white sharks are fascinating!

Great white sharks are one of a handful of sharks that are endothermic. These ‘warm-bodied’ sharks can maintain internal body temperatures higher than the outside water temperatures. They are part of a small group of sharks (Lamnids) whose eyes are proportionally larger than other shark species.  White sharks are known to spy hop, which involves peering above the surface of the water to take a look around. The eyes of a white shark are not black as coal, as the movie JAWS would have you believe, but instead the iris is denim blue! As an apex predator, white sharks sit at the top of the food chain and help maintain balance that is critical for a healthy ecosystem.

In New England, we are privileged to have such incredible marine wildlife so close to home, including the great white shark. There is very little known about these sharks. We have the opportunity to raise awareness and learn more about this magnificent species, in hopes of ensuring its future.

It is important to realize that the ocean ecosystem is all connected—from the tiniest zooplankton to the largest apex predator. If you love whales, dolphins, and turtles…I encourage you to embrace great white sharks!

Cynthia Wigren
President & Co-founder
Atlantic White Shark Conservancy

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Winter Flounder
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Flounder Live Life on Their Sides

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Categories: Creature Features

Of all the amazing fish in New England’s waters, flounder may be among the strangest. These flat fish spend most of their lives on the seafloor, where they eat small fish and crustaceans. To help with this horizontal lifestyle, flounder have evolved a couple of characteristics that help them thrive on the ocean bottom. First, they’re camouflage experts—most species of flounder have elaborate patterns that blend in with their habitat, and many will burrow and hide in soft sand and mud. Some flounder can even change colors, like ocean chameleons. Second, flounder are perfectly adapted to lie flat on the seafloor. Although they are born with one eye on each side of their head, as they mature, one eye migrates to the other side of their body, allowing them to lie on one side without getting an eye full of sand.

Flounder are found in coastal waters throughout the Northern Atlantic and Pacific, but some flounder species are particularly important to fishermen in New England. Commercial fishermen here catch witch flounder, summer flounder, windowpane flounder, and winter flounder like the one in the picture at the top of this post. One species, yellowtail flounder, is especially important to fishermen, because it’s often caught accidentally when targeting other fish species or scallops.

Flounder aren’t only important to fishermen and seafood lovers,. They can also serve as indicators of the environmental health of their habitat. Because flounder live and eat close to the seafloor, they are particularly sensitive to contaminants caught in marine sediments, like mercury, lead, and pesticides. During the worst years of pollution in Boston Harbor, flounder there had the highest levels of liver lesions and tumors in the Northeast. As the cleanup of Boston Harbor has progressed, rates of liver disease and deformities have dropped quickly, and even flounder living in the Harbor are within safe FDA limits for toxins like DDT and mercury. Not only do the flounder benefit from a cleaner harbor, but they can also teach us a lot about the health of our oceans!

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Leatherback Turtle
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Leatherback Turtles Really Get Around

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Did you know that one of the largest living reptiles on the planet can be found in New England’s ocean? Leatherback turtles, like the one shown above, can weigh up to 2,000 pounds and grow to 11 feet long. They are true ocean cruisers – you can tell by their giant flippers that they are built to cover great distances. They are at home from the tropics to Newfoundland and have been observed traveling almost 13 thousand miles in under two years. One of the reasons they wander is in search of their favorite food – sea jellies, and we have a lot of those in New England in the late summer and early fall.

As a vivid reminder that these sea-faring turtles enjoy our Gulf of Maine waters, last September an enormous leatherback was found, stranded, near the tip of Cape Cod. Normally, there is a well-oiled turtle rescue and rehabilitation machine in New England – Mass Audubon Society volunteers transport the turtles to New England Aquarium facilities for treatment and release back into the wild – but they are used to dealing with much smaller turtles, usually well under 100 pounds. 

But the stranded leatherback turtle on the Cape was much larger – it was ill and underweight yet still weighed in at 655 pounds – and posed some unique challenges to rescuers and rehabilitators.  Using equipment normally reserved for dolphin rescues, volunteers managed to transport the leatherback to the care of the New England Aquarium. But that was just the beginning of the struggles to help the turtle. According to New England Aquarium’s Tony LaCasse, these turtles are open ocean animals that are not hardwired to recognize barriers, so they can crash into walls and hurt themselves. In addition to needing staff on hand to prevent turtle/wall collisions, this leatherback was so weak it needed help surfacing to breathe. Fortunately, the Aquarium was able to provide all the turtle needed to begin its recovery. You can read more about how the Aquarium handled this huge animal with extraordinary effort and care on their rescue blog.

After two staff and labor intensive days of caring for the leatherback, the experts at the Aquarium decided that releasing him back to the wild would give him the best chance of survival. They fitted the turtle with a satellite tag to learn more about his recovery and behavior, then released him on the “Sound side” of the Cape, where he would not be at risk of getting trapped in Cape Cod Bay.

Once released, the leatherback headed straight for the east end of Nantucket, a spot known for having a high concentration of sea jellies. After that, he quickly headed south to the relatively warmer waters of coastal New Jersey, and eventually moved on to Bermuda. The last time Aquarium scientists checked on the turtle, he was still alive and on the move.

It is a heartening story, and a good reminder of the amazing things that lie beneath New England’s waves.

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North Atlantic right whale mother and calf
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North Atlantic Right Whale Mysteries – the Plot Thickens

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Categories: Creature Features

North Atlantic right whales – our critically endangered New England natives – are making more waves this week in the news. A mother and calf, like the ones Brian photographed above, were spotted off the coast of Plymouth, MA on Saturday. For an imperiled population of less than 500 individuals, in which every animal counts, this birth is a great thing. But the timing of the mother’s return to the Gulf of Maine with her calf is extremely curious. Our right whales head south to have their calves, and don’t usually return until April, possibly to take advantage of spring plankton blooms. These two are among the growing ranks of right whales who buck tradition and turn up early. This particular pair is so early that scientists have called it “mind-blowing.” What’s going on? Scientists are still investigating these early arrivals, and have speculated that the whales are simply following the food, which may be available at different times in our warming ocean. We’ll keep you posted as they work to unravel the mystery and, hopefully, help these endangered whales recover.

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Lily Pads
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Announcing Our December Photo Contest Winner!

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Categories: Photo Contest

Congratulations to Jeff Milisen, the photographer of our December winning photo, “Lily Pads″! Brian Skerry loved the lighting and beautiful grace of this photo, and we love the way it shows how lilies can provide shelter and habitat for young fish.

Also check out our New England Ocean Odyssey Facebook page where we’ll be posting the honorable mentions from the November photo contest over the next few days.

If you have pictures to share, there’s still time left in our January contest!

Entering is easy! Explore New England’s oceans, take some photographs and then share them with our online community on Flickr™. All you need to do is add your photos to the New England Ocean Odyssey group and tag them “PhotoContestNEOO2012”. Find out more here.

Each month’s winner will receive a copy of Brian Skerry’s beautiful book, Ocean Soul. 

We look forward to seeing your photos!

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