Researchers Tagged the First Great White Shark of the Season

Summer might be winding down, but it's never too late to track an ocean predator.

Image Courtesy of the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy

Image Courtesy of the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy

For the first time this season researchers put a tag on a 12-foot-long Great White Shark that was cutting through the ocean waves off Chatham.

The Massachusetts Shark Research Program, with the help of the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, reported Thursday that the fish was equipped with an electronic tracking device, so experts can follow its migratory pattern and possibly study its mating habits.

The group said they are waiting to review GoPro footage to determine if the shark was male or female.

The shark sightings on the Cape have been plentiful this summer, coinciding with recent research that suggests more Great Whites have been coming to the East Coast to roam the waters.

Back in late June, the captain of the F/V Cynthia C captured video footage of a Great White shark circling his boat. The shark was estimated to be at least 16-feet in length.

Just days later, on June 28, researchers from the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, a non-profit organization, spotted a Great White off Nauset Beach while doing an ocean flyover in their plane. They tracked the fish, a 12-to-14 foot long female, with their research vessel just one-quarter of a mile off the shoreline.

A day before experts tagged the shark in Chatham this week, the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy spotted another shark.

The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy has been sending out their spotter plane and boat twice a week as part of an ongoing study in conjunction with the state’s Division of Marine Fisheries.