Giant sharks discover where winters pass

2009/09/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Zoologia

The giant West Atlantic sharks (Cetorhinus maximus) head south in winter, some head to the Brazilian coast and dive to a thousand meters deep. This is what has come to the conclusion of a group of researchers from the Maritime Fisheries Section of Massachusetts, led by biologist Gregory Skomal, with satellite chips to sharks.

25 chips were installed on the shark's dorsal fins to clarify where the winters pass. The results show that sharks go to the tropics. The discovery has surprised researchers, as the giant sharks on the other side of the Atlantic do not travel so far south.

The discovery shows that giant sharks target waters in many countries. Therefore, members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), among others, consider that the second largest fish in the world needs global protection.

Gregory Skomal plans to follow more sharks to take research further. No one has ever seen giant shark puppies and no one knows where or when they leave. Nor why some of them head south in winter.