SECRET SHARK SOCIAL CLUB DISCOVERED OFF MEXICAN COAST
Scientists have discovered a great white shark social club in the clear blue waters of Guadalupe Island, off the western coast of Mexico. New research discovered that a group of tagged great whites formed tight cliques during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. They preferred to patrol for food with close buddies or in same-sex pairs, sometimes spending more than an hour swimming together. One pair astonished scientists by spending 70 minutes swimming together. Lengthy interactions like these are likely social associations and not random.
Researchers tagged six great white sharks near Guadalupe Island between October 2017 and December 2018. Dubbed ‘super social tags’, the monitors tracked each shark’s swimming speed, depth and direction, and also alerted researchers any time a tagged shark came into close proximity with another. More than 30 great whites at the island had already been tagged by previous research expeditions, giving researchers plenty of opportunities to see their super social tags in action. Many of the great white interactions occurred near a seal breeding ground, suggesting that perhaps the sharks spend more time with each other when prey is near in order for one shark to take advantage of another’s hunting success.