#21 That's Either A Small Whale or A Really Big Shark
Or so we thought when we caught a glimpse of something big in the water below us during our survey last week. Due to the sheer size of the animal, we initially suspected it to be a right whale calf hanging out at the surface, but after a quick once-over of the animal, it became evident that this was no whale.
Photo Credit: New England Aquarium, Kelly Slivka
We had in fact flown over an enormous great white shark, so large that in all likelihood it dwarfed the size of a newborn right whale--our best guess puts the shark at nearly 20 feet in length. Great white sharks are somewhat common in the waters off of Florida and up and down the Eastern seaboard.
These animals are oceanic wanderers, and can be found just about anywhere. We do take data points for sharks as a regular part of our research, and we were able to snap a photo before we continued on our survey. The shark seemed to be heading nowhere in any hurry and slowly slung its tail back and forth, side to side as it swam, its dorsal fin barely grazing the ocean's surface.
-Kelly
Photo Credit: New England Aquarium, Kelly Slivka
We had in fact flown over an enormous great white shark, so large that in all likelihood it dwarfed the size of a newborn right whale--our best guess puts the shark at nearly 20 feet in length. Great white sharks are somewhat common in the waters off of Florida and up and down the Eastern seaboard.
These animals are oceanic wanderers, and can be found just about anywhere. We do take data points for sharks as a regular part of our research, and we were able to snap a photo before we continued on our survey. The shark seemed to be heading nowhere in any hurry and slowly slung its tail back and forth, side to side as it swam, its dorsal fin barely grazing the ocean's surface.
-Kelly
Labels: #21 That's Either A Smallish Whale or A Really Big Shark, 2009-2010 season, AerialSurvey2010, Kelly
posted by Kelly at
11:28 AM
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