Into the Blue: Aquarium shark researcher John O'Sullivan and colleagues release a tagged white shark. Monterey Bay Aquarium
Great White Reunion?
Ballsy surfer films Aquarium's former foster shark.
Monday, August 16, 2010
It might have caused a certain sweet nostalgia for the Monterey Bay Aquarium's resident shark researchers.
According to the Aquarium's SeaNotes blog, crazy-courageous ocean sportsman Chuck Patterson was stand-up paddle-surfing in SoCal when he and his comrades came across two young great whites. The next day Patterson returned to the spot with a pole-video camera and saw the sharks again.
He posted one of the visits on Vimeo, and that's where the Aquarium's folks noticed a yellow-green mark on the shark's side.
Shark expert John O'Sullivan hypothesized, "it's very likely the leader left behind when one of electronic data tags we put on young sharks pops free and transmits its data via satellite to our researchers in the lab."
The Aquarium's team has tagged 38 young whites off the SoCAl coast since 2002.
"We won't know for certain if this was was one of ours - unless Chuck or another surfer is willing to wipe the algae off and record the identifying number on the leader next time he spots the shark," the blog states.
Sounds like a fitting challenge for an adventure sportsman.
UPDATE 8/17: In an Orange County Register story about the encounter, O'Sullivan is more certain the shark's tag is his team's. “We’re the only research group tagging that age-class of white sharks,” he told the paper.
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