‘National Geographic moment’: Researcher discusses significance of Portsmouth shark sighting
MANCHESTER, N.H. —
The New England Aquarium in Boston says the Northeast is in peak shark season.
A great white shark was seen off the coast of Portsmouth last weekend.
John Chisholm with the aquarium has been tracking great white sharks in the Atlantic since the 1970s.
Despite New Hampshire’s short coastline, Chisholm says there is historic evidence that sharks are swimming in Granite State waters, such as seals on the Isle of Shoals with bite injuries.
Chisholm said it is considered extremely rare to see a shark as up close as two fishermen recently did in Portsmouth.
“The average person isn’t going to go out and say, ‘I want to see a white shark today and actually find one.’ You know it’s pretty rare to actually find one,” Chisholm said. “Never mind having an experience like that. So you know it’s a National Geographic moment when you see a shark feeding on a whale.”
Chisholm said to report shark sightings because it helps researchers.