Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
A couple weeks ago there was a lot of hoopla about a great white shark known as “Mary Lee” that was reported to be swimming a few miles off Assateague Island. A lot of folks were wondering if the account was real because they just couldn’t comprehend that a white shark like the one in the movie “Jaws,” could possibly be swimming around in our very own backyard waters. At 13-feet and roughly 3,500 pounds, Mary Lee is not quite as big as the fictional shark from the movie, but she’s still a pretty massive critter - and she’s real!
We know that Mary Lee was off Assateague Island that day thanks to a satellite transmitter that researchers from the Osearch team attached to her dorsal fin in September 2012 off Massachusetts. Since then, every time the shark’s fin has broken the surface, the satellite SPOT (smart position and temperature) tag broadcasted a signal that was picked up by satellites. Unlike GPS units that “receive” signals from multiple satellites to determine a location, SPOT tags “transmit” a signal that is picked up by multiple satellites which then allows folks on earth to determine the location of the transmission.
In the last two and a half years, Mary Lee has become somewhat of a superstar among sharks, not only with the researchers, but also with millions of internet viewers around the world following her amazing wanderings around the Atlantic. She has been “SPOTed” anywhere from hundreds of miles offshore to sometimes “uncomfortably” close to the beaches of coastal communities.
Her recent trek past Assateague was not the first time Mary Lee has paddled through the waters off Delmarva.
The Osearch team has tagged numerous great whites, as well as other species of sharks off the U.S. coast and other parts of the world. One of them, a 12-foot, 1,000-pound tiger shark gained a lot of publicity of it’s own last August when it surfaced long enough for the satellites to locate it in our Assawoman Bay, just below the Rt.90 Bridge. Known as “Septima”, the tiger surfaced a couple times that day and was not heard from again until it transmitted off the coast of Delaware a couple of days later. Understandably, more than just a few folks were glad to know that the shark was back out in the ocean!
Providing us with entirely new insights about the natural movements of sharks throughout their life, the information being generated by the sharks that have been fitted with SPOT transmitting tags is both important and fascinating. Until recently, few would have thought that a large tiger shark might be in our bay or that large great white sharks travel past our coast, 12-months out of the year, but the evidence is there to show that it is happening!
Another fantastic benefit of this research is that the public has been able to watch it first hand by logging on to the Ocearch website. After choosing the particular shark they wish to track, viewers will see a map of the earth and be able to follow individual sharks from the time they were first tagged until the present, or at least until they stop transmitting. Every day that the shark surfaces and pings a satellite, their location and date is posted on the map so folks are able to see exactly where the animal has been. Of course, since sharks don’t necessarily visit the surface every day, viewers may occasionally note days or even weeks when there is no location information because the shark is staying deep and then one day it pops up in some distant part of the ocean. Like all research, some answers just lead to more questions!
Even though at least a few subjects of their studies have wiggled their way though our waters, the Ocearch team has yet to do any actual tagging off Delmarva. There is, however, another shark research group that has been tagging and tracking sharks with the use of satellite SPOT tags for a number of years, and in the last two has used Ocean City as a port to work out of. This tagging project is a collaboration of researchers from the Guy Harvey Research Institute, Nova Southeast University and the University of Rhode Island. While the team travels to other areas to tag oceanic whitetips and tiger sharks, they came to Ocean City in 2013 and 2014 to tag makos and will return again this month with the same goal.
I’ve been privileged to be a part of this team and to be able to provide my boat, the “Fish Finder” and my shark fishing experience to help guide the researchers to the makos. This year’s SPOT tagging project begins on May 15th and will run until the end of the month.
In 2013 we tagged five makos and in 2014 we tagged eight. This year, the researchers hope to tag 20 makos so we’ve set aside the entire last two weeks of the month to meet that goal.
Of course, before any tagging is done, the first thing we have to do is to “catch the mako” and for that we employ the standard procedures of chumming and fishing baits from sportfishing rods and reels. When we get a bite, the designated angler will fight the shark to the boat as the rest of the team makes final preparation for the tagging procedure. Once the shark is alongside the boat the real work begins.
Unlike most other tags that are quickly and easily clamped or darted into a fish, SPOT tag transmitters are literally “bolted” on to the dorsal fin of a shark. Therefore, the process requires that the shark be lifted out of the water and immobile for a few minutes so that the fin can be drilled and the tag properly attached. Obviously completing this task with a very much alive mako that might weigh from “one” to a “few hundred” pounds is tricky business! Fortunately, over the years we’ve developed some special tools and procedures that allow us to carry out the tagging process quickly (usually in 6 to 8 minutes) and most importantly, “safely” for both shark and crew. Just as we don’t want anyone to get hurt, we also don’t want to put a few thousand dollar SPOT tag on a shark that doesn’t survive the encounter!
This year’s mako tagging project will run May 15th to May 28th. With 20 tags to deploy we have our work cut out for us and we hope local anglers will lend a hand by joining us aboard the “Fish Finder” as a helper, angler and/or sponsor. For $350 per person/per day, members of the public (4 each day) can join myself, my 1st mate and two shark researchers to help catch, tag and release mako sharks. This is an incredible opportunity for members of the public to be a part of a very unique research project. More details are available on our BigSharks.com website or by calling me at 410-726-7946.
Anyone who wishes to follow the daily tracks of our makos can find a link to the tracking site on my BigSharks.com website. From the right side of my homepage click on the “Shark Tracking” tab then click “Go to the tracking site >> here” which will take you to the “Choose a Project Page” where you should select option #3 “W. North Atlantic.” Then select any of the sharks on the right side of the screen to follow, their sponsor name or number is listed below along with a few details about each shark.
Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and Captain of the charter boat, “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center.
