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NORTH CHATHAM, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Scientists are getting back to the lab after a successful season of shark tagging in Cape Cod waters.
Over the five-month season from July through early November, scientists went on 18 research trips successfully tagging 31 great white sharks.
Dr. Gregory Skomal of the Massachusetts Department of Marine Fisheries said over the next few months scientists will be going through all the data collected over the summer.
"[It was] a pretty typical season in terms of white sharks distributed all along the outer Cape coming close to shore to feed on seals so basically the same kinds of trends," Skomal told WBZ's Tim Dunn reports.
30 to 40 tagged sharks are a sign of a successful season. During their research, scientists came across a decent amount of sharks that had already been tagged.
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Since the DMF and the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy partnered about 10 years ago, they have tagged 277 sharks.
This tagging season, Skomal and his research team used new drone technology to help them in the field.
"We did quite a bit of drone sampling," he said.
Incorporating the new technology helped scientists monitor shark behavior and as well as test it as a new possible way to inform beachgoers of nearby sharks during the summer.
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