• Despite being the second-largest fish in the ocean, basking sharks remain one of the most mysterious ocean creatures.
• Their name means 'monster', and once upon a time, ancient sailors feared that's exactly what these giant creatures of the deep were.
• In reality, basking sharks are vulnerable plankton-eating fish that disappear deep into the ocean — often going as deep as 3000 feet below the surface.

Their name means 'monster', and once upon a time, ancient sailors feared that's exactly what these giant creatures of the deep were.

But while basking sharks (Cetorhinus maximus) might be the second-largest fish in the ocean, these gentle giants are not fearsome predators but vulnerable plankton-eaters — and despite their massive size, there's still a huge amount we don't know about them.

"It's a shark that remains very mysterious," oceanographer Alexandra Rohr of the French research outfit APECS — which studies elasmobranchs (cartilaginous fish) — explained to AFP.

Rohr and fellow researchers are tracking these massive baskers — so called because of their tendency to sometimes linger in warmer surface waters — in an effort to find out more about their population, migratory patterns, and sexual behaviour.

When they're not basking in the sunlight during summer months, these giant creatures (which can grow over 10 metres or 35 feet in length) can disappear into the depths for several months at a time before resurfacing, swimming as deep as 900 metres (around 3,000 feet).

During these epic dives, transmitters attached to the sharks record their underwater movements for months at a time, and then transmit data to satellites when the animals come up for some Sun and surface time.

"I just saw the tip of his fin," fisherman Alain Quemere, who encountered a basking shark off the coast of Brittany in France's northwest, told AFP.

"One moment it grazed the front of the boat, which made me laugh because my boat is barely five and a half metres and the shark was eight."

Thanks to reported sightings like these from sailors, divers, and other people out on boats, the APECS researchers get a chance to tag the massive sharkswith the transmitters, with every specimen giving valuable data on their activity in the ocean.

One insight from the project is just how migratory these sharks actually are. One female monitored in the study swam from Scotland to the Canary Islands, then to the Bay of Biscay, all in less than a year.

As AFP reports, seven basking sharks have been tagged with the transmitters since 2016, and while sightings in the region are generally rare — especially during winter — every time one of these giant sharks emerges is a chance for us to learn a little bit more about them.

Due to overfishing, these gentle giants are now listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and if we can begin to piece together more about their mysterious behaviour, it will help us to protect and conserve the population that remains.

"You have the impression of seeing a wise, old grandfather," diver Frederic Bassemayousse, who has spotted basking sharks three times, told AFP.

"It is beautiful."

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SEE ALSO: 9 places you can go diving with sharks — and what it looks like

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These underwater thrills let you get up close and personal with wildlife!

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• The bonnethead shark may be the world's first omnivorous shark, according to new research.
• While scientists have long known that this shark consumes seagrass, they thought it was incidental consumption when the sharks went after their bottom-dwelling prey.
• The researchers say this study may force a rethink about what it means to be a carnivore.

Despite what you may think, not all sharks are bloodthirsty killing machines. Some, like the bonnethead shark, prefer to munch on seagrass.

It's the first shark to receive the official designation of an omnivore, according to new research published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The bonnethead shark — which is a smaller cousin of the more famous hammerhead shark — resides in shallow, coastal areas in the Gulf of Mexico, and the US's Pacific and Atlantic coast. These areas have plenty of seagrass, along with the shrimp and crabs scientists thought was the shark's preferred sustenance.

Scientists have long known that seagrass ends up in the bonnethead shark's stomach, but were perplexed by the shark's gut, which, as with other sharks, seemed more well-suited to a carnivorous diet. 

"It has been assumed by most that this consumption was incidental and that it provided no nutritional value," Samantha Leigh, one of the researchers on the team and an ecologist at the University of California in Irvine, told The Guardian. "I wanted to see how much of this seagrass diet the sharks could digest, because what an animal consumes is not necessarily the same as what it digests and retains nutrients from."

In order to see if the sharks were actually seeking out the seagrass as food — rather than scooping it up accidentally when eating bottom-dwelling crabs or snails — the researchers fed captive sharks a mostly vegetarian diet coated with special isotopes to create a unique carbon signature.

After feeding the captive sharks, the scientists found that they were able to digest the seagrass. The researchers say the sharks may have special enzymes in their stomach acid that allows them to break down the cellulose in the plants.

The carbon signature from the plants also showed up in the sharks' blood and liver tissue, indicating that they absorbed the nutrients and used the plant-based diet for their metabolism. 

"We have always thought of sharks as strict carnivores, but the bonnethead is throwing a wrench into that idea by digesting a fair amount of the seagrass that they consume," Leigh told Fox News. 

While more research needs to be done, the scientists say that there may be more omnivorous shark species lurking in the ocean.

"Given that bonnetheads have a digestive system that resembles that of closely-related species that we know to be strict carnivores, we need to re-think what it means to have a 'carnivorous gut,'" Leigh told Fox.

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• President Donald Trump's former lead lawyer, John Dowd, complained about sharks in a recent letter he wrote to the editor of a local newspaper in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
• An increased number of seals in the Cape has caused the population of great white sharks in the area to rise dramatically over the past decade, according to experts.
• "The glorification of these dangerous predators in Chatham is reckless and a threat to the future of this beautiful community," Dowd wrote.

President Donald Trump's former lead attorney John Dowd now has a new target: great white sharks.

Dowd, who left the White House in March after going toe-to-toe with special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, urged Cape Cod authorities to take action against the sharks and warned against their "glorification" in a letter to the editor of The Cape Cod Chronicle.

Shark experts in Massachusetts say an increased number of seals on the Cape has caused the population of great white sharks in the area to rise dramatically over the past decade. The first known shark attack on a human in six years was reported in August after a man was hospitalized in Truro.

"I swim in oyster pond twice a day, but not [anymore]," Dowd wrote in the letter dated August 30. "We have seals in the swimming area. The seals need to be regularly harvested to stop the current problem and to end the era of the shark which is scaring visitors."

Dowd's letter responded to an earlier editorial which argued that the fear of sharks on Cape Cod was overblown, and that feeding on seals, who are natural prey for great whites, should not be construed as "attacks," but rather completely normal behavior for sharks.

"I recently took a trip to Martha’s Vineyard. Newport, Block Island and Nantucket. They have no seal or shark problem," Dowd added. "The glorification of these dangerous predators in Chatham is reckless and a threat to the future of this beautiful community."

But conservation experts say shark attacks on humans are extremely rare and usually accidental. On average, sharks kill 6 people a year.

"... Sharks are not known to target people specifically, and when they do bite people, it's usually a case of mistaken identity,"the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy said earlier this summer. "Sharks 'test the waters' with their teeth, much like we use our hands. It's how they determine if what they encounter is prey or something to avoid."

SEE ALSO: The population of great white sharks is spiking near Cape Cod — and beachgoers are seeing more of them in the water

SEE ALSO: 11 myths about sharks that you should stop believing

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• Every year, a large group of great white sharks migrates to a region dubbed the White Shark Café, located between Baja California and Hawaii.
• Marine scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Stanford University tagged three dozen sharks and tracked them during their April migration. 
• During their migration, the sharks were recorded making dives of up to 3,000 feet.
• "It's the largest migration of animals on Earth — a vertical migration that's timed with the light cycle," researcher Salvador Jorgensen told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Why did the great white shark cross the northern Pacific Ocean? It may sound like the beginning of some bad environmental joke, but it's exactly what researchers have been asking themselves for more than a decade. Now, they believe they may have some answers.

Every year, a large group of sharks who normally call the California coast home migrate to the open ocean halfway between Baja California and Hawaii in a Colorado-sized region dubbed the White Shark Café. But why they would leave the nutrient-dense waters, filled with plenty of seals and sea lions to get fat on, for the seemingly barren 260-kilometer-wide (160-mile) oceanic wasteland was a mystery for marine scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Stanford University. So, the team tagged three dozen white sharks with satellite pop-up trackers and followed them out to sea during their April migration.

On their way to the café, the sharks were recorded making dives of up to 915 meters (3,000 feet) by using warm currents to help move down the water column. Once they reached their destination around late winter and early spring, the sharks began to "bounce dive" in V-shapes, diving to 100-200 meters (330-650 feet) at night. During the day, the sharks dove as deep as 450 meters (~1,450 feet) where the water is cold and low in oxygen. The results, yet to published in a peer-reviewed study, are surprising.

"It's the largest migration of animals on Earth – a vertical migration that's timed with the light cycle," researcher Salvador Jorgensen told the San Francisco Chronicle. "During the day they go just below where there is light and at night they come up nearer the surface to warmer, more productive waters under the cover of darkness."

Located 1,200 nautical miles east of Hawaii at the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, one of the largest biomes on the planet, the region is influenced by California's current (which carries cold, nutrient-rich waters south along the US west coast) and by equatorial upwelling from the south that brings productivity.

While satellite images show a nutrient-poor landscape, the sharks' behavior tells a different story about what lurks underneath – presumably large groups of phytoplankton, fish, squid, and jellyfish that they are feeding on. Since more than 40% of the world's oceans are open, the researchers say biological laboratories such as the café could be key to understanding climate change and environmental adaptations and responses.

"We now have a gold mine of data. We have doubled the current 20-year data set on white shark diving behaviors and environmental preferences in just three weeks," said marine scientist Barbara Block.

Visit INSIDER's homepage for more.

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• One hundred and sixty tourists on a whale-watching cruise came across two great white sharks, one of which was 18 feet long, eating a dead whale.
• Marine biologist Joanne Jarzobski took photos of the scene that show the sharks biting into the partly eaten, dead whale.
• Jarzobski said seeing the sharks was a good sign: "Sharks have gained a notoriously bad reputation, yet sharks are a very good sign of a healthy ecosystem."

Tourists on a whale-watching cruise were met with the unexpected sight of two great white sharks, one of which was 18 feet long, eating a dead whale.

One hundred and sixty passengers were on the tour in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on Sunday when they saw the two sharks consuming the fin whale's carcass. Joanne Jarzobski, a marine biologist on the cruise who took photographs of the scene, described what she saw to Business Insider.

"We had received a report in the morning that this whale was floating in the bay and we were asked to try to document it on our way out on our whale watch," she said.

But guests were instead treated to the grisly scene of two sharks feasting on the whale.

"There were at least two great white sharks scavenging on the dead whale. One of the great white sharks was extremely large, estimated to be 18 feet or longer. She was huge," Jarzobski said.

The cause of the whale's death is unknown, the cruise company, Hyannis Whale Watcher Cruises, wrote on Facebook.

"While it always saddens us to see a dead whale, the great white sharks are helping to recycle it," the company wrote, along with a photograph of the whale with a chunk of its flesh bitten off.

The whale's throat appears to be covered in deep grooves, which are typical for this type of whale.

Jarzobski said seeing the sharks eating the carcass is a good sign.

"As an important animal in our environment, sharks have gained a notoriously bad reputation, yet sharks are a very good sign of a healthy ecosystem," she said.

"Getting the opportunity to see a great white shark in action is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our passengers and crew."

"It was truly an incredible experience to witness these apex predators recycling the dead finback whale," Jarzobski wrote on Facebook." I’m still in awe!"

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• Some of the most terrifying sea creatures live deep down in the ocean— and there could be thousands more that we have yet to discover. 
• If you dive 140 meters underwater, you could see a magemouth shark and 300 meters down, you might find a Japanese spider crab. 
• The blobfish is found 900 meters underwater and was voted the world's ugliest animal by the Ugly Animal Preservation Society.
• Watch the video above to see more of the scariest animals of the deep ocean.

Do you like to swim in the ocean? It's great until you feel something brush your feet. Sure, it's probably a scrap of seaweed. But, it could be one of the hundreds of alien-looking aquatic animals living beneath the waves. At least, the ones we know about.

The following is a transcript of the video.

A lot of people aren't comfortable swimming in open water. I mean, you never know what lives in the water beneath your feet. The ocean holds many bizarre deep-sea monsters.

As you dive 140 meters underwater, you might see a megamouth shark. Sure, they look scary, but those 50 rows of teeth are for filtering krill.

The Japanese spider crab is happy to welcome you to 300 meters down. These massive crustaceans are thought to live to 100 years old and are a Japanese delicacy.

Even deeper is the Pacific blackdragon. It uses its chin barbel as a lure to attract small fish.

Another hundred and 50 meters down, we meet the vampire squid. It has bioluminescent organs called photophores that produce flashes of light and prefers free-floating debris from the surface to blood.

Look, here comes a blobfish! This thrilling deep-sea fish was voted the world's ugliest animal by the Ugly Animal Preservation Society. But its jelly-like skin looks much more natural at 900 meters.

The deeper you go, the more alien things look. Goblin sharks are believed to be unchanged for 125 million years, making them living fossils. They can launch their jaws forward to grab prey.

Down here, we enter the midnight zone, where no natural light can reach. You might also pass Tiburonia granrojo, or 'Big Red', one of the largest jellyfish in the world.

The fangtooth has teeth to spare, the largest of any fish. It can't even fully close its mouth. 

The Sea Devil is the quintessential deep-sea anglerfish. Its bioluminescent lure attracts prey close to its massive jaws.

At 1,500 meters, the Frilled Shark looks closer to an eel. Its needle-like teeth hook squid ½ its size, and its jaws can gulp them down.

The barreleye looks upwards through its translucent head. It recognizes the silhouette of prey in the dim light.
But it should watch out below for the Ghost Shark. Its body is covered with sensory organs that detect motion in the surrounding water.

Down at 2,200 meters is one of the biggest residents of the deep. At 14 meters long, the colossal squid is the largest known invertebrate. Its arms have sharp hooks, which it uses to catch prey and fight sperm whales.

Deeper down are giant isopods, super-sized crustaceans. These guys are closely related to common pillbugs.
As we go deeper, we enter the Hadal zone, where life is less common. But you can still find some extreme life forms as deep as 7000m under the surface, like our friend the sea spider. It sucks up worms from the ocean floor with it's proboscis. 

There are potentially thousands more undiscovered creatures swimming around under us. Who knows what else might be living down there?

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• Nick Wapner, 19, was surfing with friends off of Montana de Oro State Park on California's Central Coast when he was bit by a shark on Tuesday.
• He was preparing for an incoming wave when he says the shark swam up from under him and bit his ankle and left thigh. 
• Wapner described the shark to the park ranger supervisor, Robert Colligan, as a 15-foot-long great white with an 18-inch dorsal fin.
• The teen, a student at California Polytechnic State University, had to get 50 stitches in his legs.

A 19-year-old surfer survived a shark attack off of California's Central Coast on Tuesday morning after kicking the 15-foot great white away as it bet his legs.

Nick Wapner, a student at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, was surfing with friends off the coast of Montana de Oro State Park when the attack occurred, the Tribune of San Luis Obispo reported.

Robert Colligan, the park ranger supervisor, told The Tribune that Wapner described the shark as a 15-foot-long great white with an 18-inch dorsal fin.

A photo of Wapner's board with a visible bite was shared on Instagram by the local surfing organization Still Frothy.

Wapner said the shark came up from beneath him as he prepared for an incoming wave, and first bit his right ankle before moving up to his left thigh.

"It all happened quickly, but I turned and saw that it had one of my legs in its mouth," Wapner said. "The thing was huge."

Wapner said he kicked his legs until he could free himself from the shark’s grasp, and the shark swam away.

After paddling to shore, his friend drove him the hospital where he got 50 stitches.

Read more:Here are the chances of getting bitten by a shark while you're swimming at the beach

"It could have hit an artery or something but it just kind of like got my ankles and my legs a little bit," Wapner told CBS Santa Maria, Calif. affiliate KCOY-TV.

Wapner, who is now at home recovering, believes the shark was biting out of curiosity.

"Between that and the amount of foam and fiberglass that he probably got in his mouth, that probably wasn't too tasty," Wapner told KCOY. "So I think he figured he'd be better off just letting me go."

Wapner, a trained lifeguard and longtime surfer said he'll return to surfing once his wounds heal.

Colligan saidshark attack warnings have been posted on a 13-mile stretch of beaches from Montana de Oro to Morro Strand State Beach and that people can enter the water at their own risk.

• Read more about sharks:
• There could be thousands of undiscovered creatures in the sea — here are the most terrifying ones we know about
• Scientists discovered a great white shark lair known as the 'White Shark Cafe' in the middle of the Pacific Ocean
• The world's first omnivorous shark has been identified, and it could change the way we think about bloodthirsty sharks
• A shark expert explains how to avoid a shark attack

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Business Insider sent me to the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, which was held from January 8-11.
• I spent three full days walking around the show floors, sprawling 11 total venues — over 2.5 million square feet of exhibit space.
• While there was a lot of cool cutting-edge tech to see, there were also a lot of bizarre moments, many of which I was able to capture on camera.

CES 2019 is in the books.

I saw massive 8K displays, futuristic self-driving cars, robots, smart-home devices, and much more. But I also saw lots of bizarre moments that didn't particularly fit into any of these categories. Thankfully, I was able to capture many of these moments on camera, for your viewing pleasure.

Take a look at the weirdest things I saw at CES 2019.

SEE ALSO: The best new technology we saw at CES 2019

I have Celiac disease — basically an allergy to wheat and bread — so this robot could literally kill me. (Also, who would want this massive appliance for their home?)

This robot only works every 2-3 hours. Lazy!

This robot can only take drink orders; it cannot make the drinks themselves. Yet, dozens of people waited in line for coffee here. I'll always remember my coworker looking at the line of people and exclaiming, "Does no one know this robot doesn't actually make the coffee??"

• Divers monitoring a rotting whale carcass off the coast of Oahu came face-to-face with what may have been the largest great white shark on record.
• Diver Ocean Ramsey believes the shark was more than 20 feet long and 8 feet across. It's possible that the great white shark is pregnant and was in search of extra nutrients.
• The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources has warned people to stay out of the water around the dead whale.

HONOLULU (AP) — Divers monitoring a rotting whale carcass off the shores of Oahu this week found themselves face-to-face with a massive great white shark, prompting state officials to warn recreational divers and snorkelers to stay out of the water near the dead sperm whale amid reports some people have climbed onto the carcass to take its teeth as souvenirs.

Smaller tiger sharks left when the possibly pregnant great white came to dine on the dead whale Tuesday, diver Ocean Ramsey told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

"She was just this big beautiful gentle giant wanting to use our boat as a scratching post," said Ramsey, who posted images of the encounter. "We went out at sunrise, and she stayed with us pretty much throughout the day."

Ramsey studies sharks, advocates for their conservation and leads cage-free shark diving tours. Ramsey and her team observe and identify sharks and share that data with state and federal partners.

Hawaii waters are usually too warm for great whites compared with California's Pacific coast, where they feed on sea lions and elephant seals, Ramsey said. She estimated this shark was more than 20 feet (6 meters) long and 8 feet (2.4 meters) across.

The giant white might have headed to Hawaii because of hunger and a need for extra nutrients in pregnancy, Ramsey said.

The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources said in a statement Wednesday that the decomposing whale carcass had drifted to about eight miles (13 kilometers) south of Pearl Harbor after being towed 15 miles (24 kilometers) offshore days earlier.

The department said tiger sharks have been "almost continuously" feeding on the whale and said it was aware of photos of the great white.

The agency's Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement Chief Jason Redull said people should stay out of the water around the dead whale.

Read more: An 18-foot great white shark ate a dead whale in front of a boat full of tourists

"We don't want anyone to get hurt if a shark swimming around the carcass mistakes them as food. Understandably, some people want to get into the water either out of fascination or to get photographs, but it is truly dangerous to be around this carcass with so much shark activity," he said.

The agency said there are reports people climbed on top of the whale carcass and removed its teeth, which may be a violation of state and federal laws.

Officials said the carcass it is currently drifting away from shore, but a predicted shift in the winds could once again push it back toward Oahu.

The shark could be the famed Deep Blue based on her size and markings, Ramsay said. Deep Blue is believed to be the largest white shark ever recorded. Ramsey previously swam with the huge shark on research trips to Guadalupe Island, Mexico.

"Big pregnant females are actually the safest ones to be with — the biggest, oldest ones — because they've seen it all, including us," Ramsey said. "That's why I kind of call her, like, a grandma shark."

Sharks usually only bite when they're curious or mistake people for their natural prey but are unpredictable, she said.

This story corrects that Ramsey shares data with federal partners but did not require and was not operating under a federal permit when she encountered the great white.

Information from: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, http://www.staradvertiser.com

• Read more:
• Scientists discovered a great white shark lair known as the 'White Shark Cafe' in the middle of the Pacific Ocean
• Incredible footage shows a free-diving family saving a 20-foot long endangered whale shark tangled in a fishing net
• Hundreds of dead sharks and other fish were found trapped in a 'ghost net' drifting across the Caribbean
• Thousands of sharks are hanging out on Florida's coast right now, and the footage is incredible and terrifying all at the same time

• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more.

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Ocean Ramsey and her fiancé, Juan Oliphant, came face-to-face with a 20-foot shark. The researchers believe it could have been Deep Blue, the biggest great white shark on record.
• The photos of Ramsey swimming alongside the great white shark quickly went viral.
• Ramsey told The Associated Press that the now viral photos of her swimming next to the shark prove that the predators should be protected, not feared.
• She has been pushing for a bill that would ban the killing of sharks and rays in Hawaii.

HALIEWA, Hawaii (AP) — Two shark researchers who came face-to-face with what could be one of the largest great whites ever recorded are using their encounter as an opportunity to push for legislation that would protect sharks in Hawaii.

Ocean Ramsey, a shark researcher and conservationist, told The Associated Press that she encountered the 20-foot shark Tuesday near a dead sperm whale off Oahu.

The event was documented and shared by her fiancé and business partner Juan Oliphant on social media.

The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources said it was aware of photos of the great white and that tiger sharks also have been feeding on the whale.

Read more: Divers in Hawaii came face-to-face with what's thought to be the largest great white shark ever recorded

Oliphant, who photographed the now-viral images, said it's unclear if the shark is the famed Deep Blue, believed to be the largest great white ever recorded.

Ramsey said she has been pushing for a bill that would ban the killing of sharks and rays in Hawaii for several years, and hopes this year the measure will actually become law.

• Read more:
• Scientists discovered a great white shark lair known as the 'White Shark Cafe' in the middle of the Pacific Ocean
• Incredible footage shows a free-diving family saving a 20-foot long endangered whale shark tangled in a fishing net
• Hundreds of dead sharks and other fish were found trapped in a 'ghost net' drifting across the Caribbean
• Thousands of sharks are hanging out on Florida's coast right now, and the footage is incredible and terrifying all at the same time

Visit INSIDER's homepage for more.

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Great white sharks are found in oceans in all parts of the world.
• Getting bitten by a shark is much less common than is often believed: According to the International Wildlife Museum, the chances are one in 3.75 million.
• From the chilly Atlantic waters of Cape Cod to the California coast, here are 10 places where you're likely to see great white sharks in person.

Sharks have inhabited ocean waters for millions of years, making them older than the dinosaurs. Great white sharks, one of the largest kinds, are found across the world.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, great white sharks live in many parts of the world because they have no trouble migrating long distances; they can swim up to 35 mph and have a warm-blooded circulatory system that allows them to swim in colder waters. They like to congregate in areas with a lot of fish, giving them easier access to food. These areas include coastal regions in Australia, California, New Zealand, and Africa.

While great white sharks are reportedly involved in more attacks on humans than any other kind of shark, the chances of getting bitten by one are only one in 3.75 million, according to the International Wildlife Museum.

Here are 10 places where you're most likely to see a great white shark:

The Farallon Islands off the coast of San Francisco are a food paradise for great whites.

The Farallon Islands are a small chain of islands and a wildlife refuge about 27 miles west of San Francisco. They are part of an ocean region called the "Red Triangle," which is named for the high number of great white shark attacks that occur there. But don't worry — the sharks mainly feast on the population of elephant seals and sea lions that breed near the islands.

The Farallons are closed to the public, but there are companies that give boat tours of the area. In October 2018, the Coast Guard rescued a diver who was believed to be filming a documentary in the area and was attacked by a great white shark.

Dyer Island near Gansbaai in South Africa has hundreds of great white sharks.

The channel between Dyer Island and Geyser Rock off the coast of South Africa is inhabited by a high number of penguins and seals that make the area a year-round buffet for great white sharks. Researchers in 2013 identified 532 individual sharks swimming near the area, making it the densest population of them in the world.

If you visit the area, nicknamed "shark alley," you can go on a cage dive to see them up close or watch them from a boat tour.

The population of great white sharks in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is rising.

In the past few years, great white shark sightings have spiked in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. One resident from the town of Orleans told National Geographic in November 2018 that he spotted 10 great whites during one surf trip in the cape's waters. These sightings prompted beach closures throughout the region last year.

According to National Geographic, the booming gray seal population has attracted the sharks. Scientists from Florida Atlantic University suggested the northern Atlantic waters might also serve as a nursery for baby white sharks.

• Scientists have successfully sequenced the entire genome of the great white shark.
• Sharks have swum in the planet's oceans for the last 400 million years. Some experts believe their species-wide longevity stems from a resistance to diseases like cancer and ability to heal quickly.
• By decoding the shark's genome, scientists hope to glean new insight into the mechanisms behind these healing powers.
• There's even a possibility that the findings could help humans tackle disease in new ways.

Damage-resistant genes. Healing powers. Very low risk of cancer. No, scientists aren't describing Wolverine or Superman  — those are the powers of the great white shark. 

The star of Steven Spielberg's blockbuster, whose scientific name is Carcharodon carcharias, has a reputation as a meat-eating monster of the sea. But in fact, great white sharks may offer clues about the genetic underpinnings of self-repairing DNA.

For the first time, scientists have successfully sequenced the entire genome of the great white shark. A genome is all of an organism's genetic material — its genes and DNA. These sharks have 4.63 billion rungs on their DNA ladder, and 41 pairs of chromosomes compared to humans' 23, a new study revealed.

So this sequencing effort was years in the making. 

But scientists think the work will be worth it, as Mahmood Shivji, a biologist at Nova Southeastern University and a co-author of the new study about the shark genome, told Business Insider.

"Sharks are well known to be able to heal from wounds efficiently, but nobody knows why," he said.

This new genome could reveal a plethora of genetic secrets that could explain why these animals are so good at healing and fending off disease.

"There's a tremendous amount to be learned from these highly successfully evolutionary marvels," Shivji said. "Their function and design is 400 million years of extremely fine-tuned evolution."

Great white sharks are quick healers

In addition to this rapid healing, sharks don't get cancer more often than humans, despite their large size. Scientists generally think the chance of developing cancer should go up with an organism's body size and life span, since having more cells and a longer life leads to more opportunities for cancer-causing DNA damage to accumulate.

But "it is rare to find a 'sick' shark in the wild," scientists from the Mote Marine Laboratory wrote in a 2018 study.

Great whites can be up to 20 feet long, weigh some 7,000 pounds, and live between 40 and 70 years, so the fact that they don't have an increased risk of cancer suggests that something in their genome confers additional protection. (Sharks' typical causes of death involve interactions with humans or simply old age.)

One reason for that, according to the new study, may be that the great white’s genetic code hides a balance of DNA opposites that make the overall genome stable.

On one hand, the genome has a large proportion of "jumping genes": genes that make copies of themselves then insert themselves into various parts of the genome. Shivji said scientists would expect these genes to make the genome more unstable because they break up DNA strands upon insertion, which raises the risk of errors and damage in the genetic code.

Such genomic instability is associated with higher risk of cancers in humans, as well as other age-related illnesses like Alzheimer's.

But it turns out that the shark genome balances these jumping genes with stabilizing genes involved in DNA repair, damage response, and damage tolerance.

So it appears that great white sharks have developed a way to keep their genomes stable despite their large bodies and long lifespans, Shivji said.

Sharks' genetic 'superpowers' could have applications for human health

While the idea that sharks are cancer-proof continues to circulate, the animals can get the disease. There have been 44 reported instances of cancerous lesions among 21 different types of chondrichthyes, a species class that contains sharks and sting rays. Of those 44 reports, about a third were malignant, according to a 2016 study.

That cancer myth is the basis for shark-cartilage pills, the sale of which continues to decimate shark populations worldwide. Great whites are now listed as "vulnerable to extinction" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Shivji emphasized that eating shark products — like taking the cartilage pills or consuming shark fin soup— won't improve your own genes' abilities to resist cancer.

"We want to avoid giving the impression to people that if you eat sharks, it'll cure diseases," Shivji said. "That's as silly as saying, 'if you eat sharks you'll be able to hold your breath better.'"

SEE ALSO: Researchers come face-to-face with huge great white shark

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Coyote Peterson explains what most people get wrong about sharks

• The Grand Isle Resort and Spa in Great Exuma, Bahamas, is sending guests out with a marine biologist to tag sharks for scientific research. 
• Interested guests are required to donate $500 to Beneath the Waves, an NGO dedicated to the conservation of sharks and their habitats, in order to join marine biologist Dr. Austin Gallagher and his colleagues on a small research vessel. 
• You'll track and catch tiger, hammerhead, reef, and nurse sharks in order to apply satellite tags that help researchers in their conservation efforts. 

Rolling out on the Orca boat with Richard Dreyfuss doesn't seem like much of a vacation. Sure, there's a good dose of this-would-never-happen-at-home adventure in joining the hunt for a man-eating shark. But there's also that whole getting eaten thing. Which is why, theoretically, shark-chasing travel is best done from an automated boat at Universal Studios.

The truth, of course, is that most sharks have very little interest in making brunch out of your right leg, and even cage diving with Great Whites is usually less dangerous than a night out with Kiefer Sutherland. Which is why one resort is offering its guests the chance to not only see sharks but also spend some quality time tagging them for scientific research.

The Grand Isle Resort and Spa in Great Exuma, Bahamas, is sending guests out with marine biologists on shark-tagging missions, catching sharks, tagging them, and collecting essential data to help with their conservation.

If this is the point where you're imagining your left hand being bitten off in a fit of "What the $*#& are you attaching to my ear" shark rage, rest assured these shark breeds are all highly friendly and not at all threatening to humans — read: not Great Whites.

For a charitable, $500 donation to Beneath the Waves — an NGO dedicated to the conservation of sharks and their habitats — you'll join renowned marine biologist Dr. Austin Gallagher and his colleagues aboard a small research vessel. You'll spend the day scouring the turquoise waters off the Bahamas for tiger, hammerhead, reef, and nurse sharks.

You and the team of marine biologists will catch the sharks then apply satellite tags that help researchers and conservationists track the animals, learning where they're moving and hopefully understanding why. You'll then assist, as much as someone completely unqualified for shark research can, in the collection of important data from said sharks, like taking measurements and tissue samples. The process is completely humane and fairly integral to ensuring the world has a shark population in the future.

"The Bahamas is one of the most important areas for sharks globally, and conducting our shark tagging research in the Exumas will help us gather the necessary data to determine the value of protecting sharks for the environment and economy," Dr. Gallagher said via a press release.

The staff will go into more detail during the trip, which will also include light snacks and drinks. Think economy-class domestic flight with more legroom and, for some reason, live sharks.

Read more: Incredible footage shows a free-diving family saving a 20-foot long endangered whale shark tangled in a fishing net

So if you love sharks like Drake loves puffy vests, this might be the vacation for you. The first trip goes out February 20, continuing with daily excursions through the 24th, weather permitting. Then more missions in the future, which you can learn about from the resort. For $500 it's about as close as you can get to sharks in nature without a scuba certification or death wish, and it helps conserve their habitat in the process. A day chasing Jaws it's not, but that's probably a good thing. Better to help do some research than return home minus a limb. 

• Read more about sharks:
• Scientists just mapped the great white shark's genome, revealing clues that may help us heal wounds and fight cancer
• Divers in Hawaii came face-to-face with what's thought to be the largest great white shark ever recorded
• The divers who vent viral for swimming with a gigantic great white shark are now using their encounter to push for legislation that would protect sharks in Hawaii
• Scientists discovered a great white shark lair known as the 'White Shark Cafe' in the middle of the Pacific Ocean

Join the conversation about this story »

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• A fisherman hooked a 220-pound decapitated head of a mako shark while fishing for smaller sharks off the coast of Sydney, Australia. 
• Trapman Bermagui, also known as Jason, found a marlin bill embedded inside the shark's head that had apparently been there for "years."
• Jason says he didn't see what bit the shark's head off but that it "must have been impressive."

A fisherman poses with the severed head of a mako shark which had been decapitated by another creature of the deep.

The shark's head, gills, and pectoral fins were hauled aboard a boat on a fishing expedition off the east coast of Australia, but its tail and body were completely missing, sparking speculation it was killed by an even bigger mystery sea creature. 

Trapman Bermagui, also known as Jason, had been fishing for smaller sharks off the coast of Sydney but instead hooked the 100kg (220-pound) decapitated head of a mako shark. 

To Jason's surprise, he also found a marlin bill embedded inside the shark's head as he was cutting off the meat. 

Read more: Divers in Hawaii came face-to-face with what's thought to be the largest great white shark ever recorded

In a post on Facebook, he said the bill had been wedged inside the head for "years," proving the "amazing healing powers of the shark."

He said: "So this was all we got back of this monster mako. Unfortunately we didn't see what ate it but must of been impressive!!"

"The head was about 100kg. It was a crazy morning of shark fishing."

"Hoping to catch smaller sharks but just hooked big sharks that got eaten by bigger sharks again."

Large adult mako sharks can grow 4.5 meters (14 feet) in length and weigh over 500kg (1,100 pounds).

• Read more:
• Scientists discovered a great white shark lair known as the 'White Shark Cafe' in the middle of the Pacific Ocean
• The divers who vent viral for swimming with a gigantic great white shark are now using their encounter to push for legislation that would protect sharks in Hawaii
• Incredible footage shows a free-diving family saving a 20-foot long endangered whale shark tangled in a fishing net
• An 18-foot great white shark ate a dead whale in front of a boat full of tourists

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Great white sharks are often thought of as the most fearsome predators in the ocean.
• But even these sharks are afraid of something. A new study found that when great whites have encountered killer whales, or orcas, near their hunting grounds, they've fled and stayed away.
• In 2017, there were three reports of orcas killing great white sharks off the coast of South Africa and eating their livers.

Who's afraid of the big, bad ... whale?

The lovable orca of "Free Willy" fame, also called a killer whale or blackfish, is a stone-cold predator. So much so, in fact, that it can send the world's most feared shark into hiding.

A new study published in the journal Scientific Reports found that the mere presence of orcas in the water led to a noticeable absence of great white sharks.

The researchers behind the study monitored the waters in the Pacific Ocean off the Farallon Islands near San Francisco, where great whites are known to hunt for elephant seals. They found that if a pod of orcas came along, the sharks fled their preferred hunting grounds and didn't come back until the following year.

"It's a bit ironic — when we think about white sharks, it's hard to imagine they are risk-averse," Salvador Jorgensen, a shark expert at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the lead author of the study, told Business Insider. "But this study shows that even for these massive predators, knowing when to pull out and flee is an important part of their repertoire."

When confronted with orcas, sharks hightail it

Between September and December each year, great white sharks congregate in California's Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, off the coast of San Francisco, to dine on young elephant seals.

To keep tabs on these sharks' movements, Jorgensen and his colleagues attached tracker tags to 165 great white sharks from 2006 to 2013.

The researchers then compiled population data and field observations from the area from 1987 to 2013 so they could cross-reference how the behavior of elephant seals, sea lions, and orcas might have affected shark movements over time.

According to their data, orcas — who also enjoy a dinner of elephant seal — showed up in the area only rarely during hunting season, seen on just 18 days of the entire 27 years of observations. Sometimes the orcas were around for less than an hour.

But that was more than enough for the sharks. During those 18 days, the study's authors found, there were four observed encounters between orcas and great whites. Data from the sharks' tracker tags showed that when these two predators found themselves in the same area, all the great whites swam away within minutes of the orcas' arrival.

Then the sharks didn't return until the next hunting season.

Based on other observations of interactions between whales and sharks in California's waters, it seems that great whites have good reason to flee.

The livers of great white sharks are an orca delicacy

In 1997, whale watchers near the Farallon Islands observed an orca attacking and killing a great white shark. Then in 2016, a drone captured footage of a great white being ripped apart by an orca in Monterey Bay.

Orcas have killed great white sharks in other parts of the world too, Jorgensen said.

"Recent reports from South Africa and Australia suggest that the relationship between these two ocean giants may have a long legacy, perhaps spanning millennia," he said.

The most notable clash of these marine titans came two years ago in South Africa, when researchers found three great white sharks washed up on the shores of Kleinbaai. The sharks' livers were missing, as was one shark's heart.

Scientists determined that all three had run afoul of orcas, which dined on their nutrient-rich livers. The authors of the new study suggested that eating great whites' highly caloric livers could give orcas an energy boost.

Ultimately, the authors aren't sure whether the orcas passing by the Farallon Islands are targeting great white sharks for their internal organs, or whether the whales are just bullying their competition out of the prime spot at the elephant seal drive-thru.

Orcas are bigger, badder, and better hunters

Great white sharks can grow to be 20 feet long and weigh 4 tons. They can swim up to about 35 mph and use their superior sense of smell to home in on prey from up to two miles away.

Read more: An 18-foot great white shark ate a dead whale in front of a boat full of tourists

The sharks' mouths hold 300 serrated, perpetually self-replacing teeth. When hunting, they like to position themselves below unsuspecting prey in the water, then rocket toward the surface and chomp down. Great whites can leap up to 10 feet out of the water, breaching like a whale, before sinking below the waves with their catch.

That all sounds scary — until you compare it with orcas.

Orcas swim just as fast as great whites. But they're bigger, reaching lengths of 32 feet and weighing up to 6 tons. The whales also hunt cooperatively, in pods of up to 40, herding and encircling prey, then using their 4-inch teeth to chomp on other whales, otters, seals, and penguins.

According to SeaWorld, orcas prey on more than 140 species of animals around the world, including land-based critters, like moose.

Orcas are even known to purposefully beach themselves on icebergs or sandbars to frighten seals and penguins into the water, then track them down and swallow them whole.

As it turns out, the outcome of the predator face-off near the Farallon Islands favored the elephant seals.

The researchers said that while sharks hunted about 40 elephant seals in the area each hunting season, those hunts stopped as soon as orcas arrived on the scene. So during the years that the great whites left prematurely, elephant seals were attacked and eaten much less often, they said.

SEE ALSO: Scientists just mapped the great white shark's genome, revealing clues that may help us heal wounds and fight cancer

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Why some killer whales have curved fins

• Pollution appears to have reached the highest tiers of the food chain in ocean ecosystems, according to a new study.
• Great white sharks were found to contain incredibly high levels of heavy metals in their bloodstreams.
• While it appears that sharks may be immune to the effects of high concentrations of heavy metals, excessive mercury, arsenic, and lead are extremely toxic to humans and many other animals.
• Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.

For humans, high concentrations of heavy metals in our blood are extremely toxic — excessive mercury, arsenic, or lead can even lead to death.

Great white sharks appear to be immune to heavy metals that are toxic to humans and other animals, however, according to a study by researchers at the University of Miami Reinstall School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

The researchers assessed the blood of 43 great white sharks off the coast of South Africa.

Using barbs, the scientists caught and carefully hoisted the sharks onto a special platform where they were measured.

They then took their blood, fitted them with tracking devices, and released them back into the sea.

The researchers administered the sharks with antibiotics and electrolytes to help them recover faster from blood loss and time spent out of the water.

It turns out sharks may be immune to heavy metals

When the blood samples were examined, it turned out that the great whites had extremely high concentrations of heavy metals in their bloodstream — but this doesn't seem to be having any negative effects on their health.

Read more:The UN has warned that we only have 12 years to curb climate change

The scientists also looked at the levels of white blood cells in the sharks — white blood cells are often produced in higher quantities as an immune response to infections or toxic substances.

To the scientists' surprise, the concentration of white blood cells was found not to be raised.

"The results suggest that sharks may have an inherent physiological protective mechanism that mitigates the harmful effects of heavy metal exposure," said Liza Merly, lead author of the study.

Pollution appears to have reached the highest rungs of the food chain in great whites' ecosystems

Although the sharks seem to tolerate the heavy metals quite well, it's a pretty ominous sign for the ecosystem.

The researchers described the sharks as "ecosystem indicators", explaining that — seeing as great whites are top predators — it's safe to assume the entire food chain has been contaminated with heavy metals.

Read more:Turtles have a one in five chance of dying if they eat just one piece of plastic

It's also important to bear in mind that there's often quite a lot of overlap between sharks' diets and our own — the difference being that if we eat fish or seafood that's been contaminated with heavy metals, there's no guarantee our nervous systems won't be affected.

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Greg Vella captured images of a great white shark with a turtle still sticking out of its mouth. 
• The fisherman shared the images to the Facebook group, Commercial Salmon, Albacore & Crab Fishers, explaining that he had been fishing for tuna when he "heard chatter" about the great white on the radio. 
• The dead shark was found tangled in netting the following day.
• Warning: The photos below are graphic. 
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.

A fisherman has captured photos of the gruesome demise of a great white shark that "choked to death" on a sea turtle in Japan.

The images show the bloodied shark hauled onto land with the sea turtle still protruding from its mouth.

Greg Vella shared the images to the fishing group Commercial Salmon, Albacore & Crab Fishers on Facebook, explaining he had been fishing when he heard on the radio that a great white was swimming nearby with a sea turtle in its mouth.

The following day the corpse of the shark, which weighed 4,500 pounds, was found tangled in netting, according to the fisherman.

Read more: Hundreds of mutilated dolphins killed by fishing nets have been found on a beach in France

"I was out commercial 'ken ken' style fishing for tuna (Japan, Pacific Ocean side) when I heard chatter on the radio that there was a white shark swimming around with a big sea turtle in its mouth," Mr. Vella wrote. "People started to joke about it, so I did not pay it any more attention."

"Then next day, it was found dead, near the bait receivers, tangled in some netting."

According to Mr. Vella, captains he'd asked about the shark said it had looked "close to death" the day before it died, as the creature had been unable to "dislodge the giant turtle."

"The commercial guys were bummed, as white sharks do not bother their commercial fishing, and most certainly do bother the things that eat our catch," he added.

The photos of the giant shark have since been shared more than 9,000 times.

Great white sharks are the largest predatory fish on Earth, according to National Geographic.

Their diet typically consists of sea lions, seals, and small-toothed whales.

• Read more about sharks:
• A fisherman in Australia caught a giant shark that had its head bitten off by an even larger creature
• An 18-foot great white shark ate a dead whale in front of a boat full of tourists
• Divers in Hawaii came face-to-face with what's thought to be the largest great white shark ever recorded
• Scientists discovered a great white shark lair known as the 'White Shark Cafe' in the middle of the Pacific Ocean

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A recent Harvard study found men who wore boxers had about 25% more sperm than those who wore briefs

• Amid the depressing news about warming oceans and impending extinctions, images of vulnerable and amazing species can serve as a reminder of what environmental activists are fighting to save.
• The UnderwaterPhotography.com photo contest is a long-running and prestigious online photo competition that showcases the colorful denizens of the oceans.
• Here are our 26 favorite images from the contest's pool of winners and runner-ups this year.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

For most of us, it's extremely difficult to observe ocean animals in their natural habitats — let alone capture pictures to show our friends later. 

But that's not the case for these award-winning photographers.

UnderwaterPhotography.com recently announced the winners of its annual photo contest for the 2018-2019 year.

The contest is one of the longest-running and most prestigious online photo competitions — every year, hundreds of photographers from around the world submit thousands of photographs in a range of categories, from "Close-ups" to "Wrecks." Images are judged by a group that includes industry professionals, previous competition winners, and UnderwaterPhotography.com moderators. 

This year, photographers submitted 4,121 entries. Only a few dozen walked away with medals in each category.

Read More:On Earth Day, stunning photos reveal the fragility and resilience of the planet and its animals

We've republished some of the winning photographs here in select categories. Take a look.

SEE ALSO: 23 images that show how much we've reshaped planet Earth over the last century

Photographer Greg Fleurentin won a gold medal for this image of sharks and a ray in French Polynesia's Moorea Lagoon.

The medal was awarded in the "Over/Under shots" category, which involves photos that cross the surface boundary of the water. The following two photos were part of the same category.

A turtle enjoys a nighttime swim in the Adriatic sea near Italy's coast in this image by Marco Caraceni.

Suzan Meldonian got up close and personal with an American crocodile in Cuba.

Photographer Henley Spiers took home the top two prizes in the the "Natural Light" category. This image of a southern stingray swimming in the Cayman Islands won gold.

The natural light category awards photos taken using only ambient light.

This shot of a Hawksbill turtle in a shallow lagoon off the Maldives earned Spiers the silver medal.

Photographer Jinggong Zhang snapped this photo of seahorses mating in Japan.

The image took the gold medal in the "Not Swimming" category, which includes photos of "smaller subjects typically 1 to 3 inches" in size that are not moving. The following three images were submitted in this category as well.

John Roach captured a close-up image of a Yellowhead Jawfish in the Caribbean waters of the Netherlands Antilles.

This intimate portrait of a Porcelain crab in the Banda sea off of Indonesia came from photographer Iyad Suleyman.

This image by Deniz Muzaffer Gökmen might look almost abstract at first, but it shows a silhouetted seahorse in the Andaman sea off Indonesia.

This image of a jellyfish undulating through the water in the Philippines, taken by Wayne Jones, earned a gold medal.

It won the "Swimming" category, while the next photo came in second.

This Bigfin reef squid was also caught on camera in the Philippines, by photographer Lilian Koh.

An open-mouthed Ribbon eel in Indonesia, photographed by Rudy Janessen, boasts remarkably bright coloring.

Photographer Daniel Flormann won the "Marine Life" category with this shot of a crocodile's reflection in the Gulf of Mexico, near Cuba.

The following four photos were part of the same category.

Australian photographer Nick Polanszky captured this manta ray as it swam through the Sea of Cortés near Mexico.

Polanszky also caught two sea lions wrestling beneath the waves in the Sea of Cortés.

A Wakatobi cuttlefish stands out amid the other sea life in Indonesia's Banda sea in this image by Steven Miller.

Chinese photographer Richard (Quingran) Meng took this candid photo of a sea turtle in Indonesia.

The "Shark" category is always a fan favorite. Photographer Steve Andersen took home gold with this shot of a great white swimming near Guadalupe, Mexico.

The silver medal for shark photography went to Debbie Wallace, who took this picture of a female great Atlantic hammerhead shark from below in the Bahamas.

The contest isn't just about animals. Mehmet Öztabak won the "Wrecks" category with this photo of a diver exploring the Pinar 1 shipwreck in Bodrum, Turkey.

The "Wrecks" category includes photos of anything man-made that's sunk to the depths, like cars, tanks, planes, and ships. The following two images were in the same category.

In this shot by Rene B. Andersen, you can see the steam boilers from the WWI ship HMS Viknor. The vessel is 282 feet deep in the Irish Sea.

Andersen also took this ghostly image of an almost intact boat sitting tranquilly at the bottom of Lake Kreidesee in Germany.

Divers get a separate category. Leena Roy won with this image of a diver swimming through a tunnel of silverside fish in the Cayman Islands.

This image by photographer Wayne Jones is titled "Man from Mars." It was taken in the Halmahera sea in Indonesia.

Other photographers captured shots of marine environments above the water, like this sunset photo taken by Susannah H. Snowden in the Cayman Islands.

Snowden photo, along with the following image, won medals in the "Topside" category.

Lastly, Stefan Follows' close encounter with a grey seal pup on a beach near Norfolk in the UK yielded this adorable portrait.

• A nearly 10-foot-long, 533-pound shark was tracked to the Long Island Sound on Monday by Ocearch, a research organization that electronically tracks ocean life for scientists.
• The shark is the first to be tracked to the Long Island Sound by Ocearch. 
• The shark was first tagged last fall off Nova Scotia and was seen off the coast of North Carolina days before heading to the Long Island Sound.
• David Hudson of the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, Connecticut, said the shark is likely feeding on seals and will continue north toward Maine. 
• It's actually a good thing.
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.

A great white shark was detected in Long Island Sound on Monday in what researchers believe to be the first time ever.

The nearly 10-foot-long, 533-pound shark was seen swimming near Greenwich, Connecticut, by Ocearch, a research organization that electronically tracks ocean life for scientists.

Ocearch named the shark Cabot, after Italian explorer John Cabot, known for a 1497 voyage to North America.

"Be advised! For the first time ever, we are tracking a white shark in the Long Island Sound. 9' 8"@GWSharkCabot is just off the shore near Greenwich," Ocearch said in a tweet about the shark.

The shark was first tagged last fall off Nova Scotia and was seen off the coast of North Carolina days before heading to the Long Island Sound, according to CBS News.

According to Ocearch, Cabot has logged nearly 4,000 miles of travel since he was first tagged in October, swimming as far south as Florida, USA Today reported.

Read more:High levels of pollutants have been found in the bloodstreams of great white sharks

Chris Fischer, OCEARCH's founding chairman and expedition leader, told the Associated Press that his organization was surprised to see the great white so far west in the Long Island Sound, and said it was likely looking for bait fish.

He said he expected Cabot to leave the sound and continue north in its migratory pattern.

Fischer told CBS New York that Cabot's presence in the sound could be a sign of environmental improvement.

"I know they've been working hard in the sound to clean it up and to get life to come back to the region and when you have an apex predator like Cabot move in to the area, that's a sign there's a lot of life in the area and you've probably got things moving in the right direction," he said.

David Hudson of the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, Connecticut, said his research team is watching Cabot.

"He's on his way up to Cape Cod, that would be my best guess, there's a pretty big seal population up there, again up in Maine," he told ABC 7 New York.

He said the shark doesn't currently pose a threat to humans and is likely feeding on seals in the area.

Great white sharks can grow up to 17 feet long and 4,000 pounds. Their population along the northeastern US coast has been increasing since 2014.

• Read more:
• Killer whales feast on the livers of great white sharks — just one orca sighting can keep the sharks away for a year
• A fisherman in Australia caught a giant shark that had its head bitten off by an even larger creature
• An 18-foot great white shark ate a dead whale in front of a boat full of tourists
• Guests at a resort in the Bahamas can spend a day with a marine biologist catching sharks and tagging them for science

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Nxivm founder Keith Raniere began his trial. Here's what happened inside the alleged sex-slave ring that recruited actresses and two billionaire heiresses.