beachbites 15 Top: Mary Lee. Bottom: Katharine was tagged by OCEARCH August 19, 2013, off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. newborn right whales as well … but we don’t believe the white sharks are solely reliant on right whales to sustain themselves. They are likely feeding on a variety of species of fish as well and quite possibly, and probably dolphins and porpoises … and smaller bait fish like herrings, mackerels, shrimp and all these different animals that move off the coast of North Carolina.” On average, Skomal says great white sharks are probably only swimming 1 to 3 knots, or nautical miles, per hour. “Although they’re capable of swimming in excess of 20 to 25 miles per hour, they’re not. Even though we’re capable of sprinting, it doesn’t make sense for us to do it all the time,” he says. “The sharks spend most of their time moving relatively slowly, but if they’re mov-ing at 1 to 3 knots, they still cover a lot of ground over time, moving from Massachusetts down to Florida in weeks or months. But for a fish, that’s a lot of area to travel and that’s a pretty good pace.” The last time Mary Lee pinged of off the Wrightsville Beach coast was in October 2013; Katharine was logged in December 2013 off of the Outer Banks. As air and ocean tempera-tures rise steadily this summer, the great whites may return to Wrightsville’s waters. To see where Mary Lee and Katharine are virtually, go to www.ocearch.org/tracker ROBERT SNOW/OCEARCH CAROLINE NURSE/OCEARCH www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM
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