No Tracking Cape Great White Shark

October 16, 2004

Release from: Jack Encarnacao
Boston Globe

When a 1,700-pound great white shark slipped free from an island lagoon near Cape Cod, thrilled researchers hoped that a tracking device attached to its dorsal fin would yield a rich trove of information.

As research projects go, it didn't last long.

The satellite tag came off and bobbed to the surface on Oct. 4, an hour after the 14-foot shark was ushered from shallow waters into the deep Atlantic by scientists and fishermen wielding water hoses.

"It just leaves a hollow feeling in me," said Greg Skomal, a biologist with the state Division of Marine Fisheries who tagged the shark. "For the last three weeks, I've gone to the highest point in my professional career to really one of the lowest."

The tag was attached Sept. 24, after the great white shark was discovered in the Elizabethan Island chain. The tag was supposed to remain attached until April 1, tracking where the shark traveled, the depths it reached, and its temperature.

Little is known about the great white, say researchers, who were excited at the prospect of what they could learn from the shark that, for a couple of weeks, was the focus of media attention and mesmerized spectators.

The detached tag was announced in a statement issued yesterday by the state Division of Marine Fisheries.

Skomal attributed the tag's malfunction to the shark's extended stay in the Naushon Island inlet.

A mechanism within the tag detects changes in water depth, he said, and if they were not large or frequent, the mechanism would interpret the data as a sign the shark was dead and detach the tag. This process began gradually at the end of the shark's stay near Cape Cod.

Skomal said the timing of the detachment could not have been worse. If the tag had come off an hour before the shark left the lagoon, biologists could have attached another one. If it had detached a day later, specialists would have gathered a full day of information.

Despite the lost research opportunity, Skomal said that much was gained by the shark's appearance in the lagoon.

"I think there's a huge public-education component here that we'll probably never be able to measure," he said. "Instead of people having us kill this animal, the whole emphasis was on getting her back to where she belongs."

For enthusiasts like Skomal, the rendezvous with a great white stands as a shining moment.

"I was looking at climbing the mountain, and I'm crossing a little ant hill here," he said. "So, a real bummer, but one I'm getting used to and overcoming. I'll be smiling the rest of my life when I think about it."

As for the shark, Skomal is confident that all is well.

"She was in excellent shape," he said of the shark's condition upon leaving the lagoon. "I'm confident she's healthy and swimming off, perhaps with a smirk on her face."