(WJAR) — It’s a fin-tastic find!
The Atlantic Shark Institute spotted a young Great White shark near Block Island last week.
Executive Director Jon Dodd said they this is a first.
“We’ve spotted sea turtles. We’ve seen tuna. We’ve seen a variety of species of shark,” said Dodd. “But this is the first time that we got a great white shark on the BRUVS so we’re pretty excited.”
Executive Director Jon Dodd spoke about the spotting with the underwater video system. (WJAR)
His team used a Baited Remote Underwater Video System, also known as BRUVS.
“It’s a cage that we put bait in and then we attach a GoPro to it,” said Dodd. ” We leave it for an hour, and then we come back and pull it up, and see what it is that we were able to capture.”
The video is not live. Dodd said the discovery was made days after the shark appeared on camera, after they extracted and scanned the footage.
Dodd said they have used this technology for about four to five years, but this is the first time they spotted a great white.
The Atlantic Shark Institute spotted a young Great White shark near Block Island last week. (Atlantic Shark Institute)
“This is just another data point on having white sharks, where we can find them and what age and size they might be,” said Dodd.
Dodd said the health and population of sharks is vital to its ecosystem. He said a find like this young shark is critical in tracking the population of the white sharks, to learn whether their population is progressing.
“What’s really important is that these young sharks are the future of the species. It requires a [female] white shark to be 30 years old before she can even reproduce,” said Dodd. “So when you see these young white sharks, it gives you hope. Numbers will grow, their numbers will grow, and we’ll find ourselves in a place where there’s plenty of White Sharks. and it’s a nice balanced environment.”
Dodd said they post findings often on their social media pages.
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Atlantic Shark Institute website.