Great Whites Tagged off Cape Cod - Oceana USA
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September 8, 2009

Great Whites Tagged off Cape Cod

Sightings of four great white sharks this Labor Day weekend in Cape Cod, Massachusetts may have put a damper on some vacationers’ swimming aspirations, but scientists were able to tag two of the sharks, which will allow them to better understand this misunderstood species’ migratory patterns.White sharks are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN red list. Like most sharks, the species matures late and has few young, making it susceptible to overfishing. White sharks are caught as fisheries bycatch and their fins are cut off for use in shark fin soup. According to CNN, Massachusetts has recorded only four shark attacks since 1670, and the last fatal shark attack in Massachusetts happened in 1936.Compare that statistic with the millions of sharks killed each year by humans. Healthy oceans need sharks — even fearsome-looking ones like the great white.