Great white sharks live along the coast of central and northern California where abundant populations of seals provide a rich and ready source of food. Why the sharks would ever leave this highly productive home range is a mystery. But research by scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Stanford University revealed that each spring the sharks turn seaward, traveling south and west to a region of the central Pacific roughly midway between Hawai’i and the Baja Peninsula. The area where the sharks congregate was nicknamed the White Shark Café.
MBARI has played two important roles in the research into shark behavior. Scientist Bruce Robison participated in an expedition to the White Shark Café in 2018. His research there showed that the Café region has plenty of food to support a migrating population of several hundred sharks.
In a concurrent effort, Engineers Thom Maughan and Larry Bird designed systems to attach cameras to shark fins so that the Monterey Bay Aquarium could study their behaviors.
For more information, see the MBARI 2018 Annual Report: [ Ссылка ]
Video producer: Nancy Barr
Video editor: Kyra Schlining
Interview videographer: Todd Walsh
Music: [ Ссылка ] (License N: TT000270144)
Special thanks to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for the map, white shark footage, and video from the shark camera.
