Scientists at New York Aquarium discovered a nursery ground for sand tiger sharks in Great South Bay. But despite its scary feature due to its toothy grin, experts said these creatures are considered as docile, unless they are provoked.
Experts found out that these non-aggressive sharks migrate from south to north to New York in order to feed and grow. These juvenile creatures, aged from several months to five years old, hide in the bay during summer, while they feed and protect themselves from predators. Then, when they are full grown, they will eventually head back to south by fall.
For the past years, aquarium's team has been spending ample time trying to locate the shark's nursery. They have been tagging them and remotely tracking sharks' movements. But in 2011, researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society's New York Aquarium in Coney Island received an image of a deceased juvenile tiger shark from one of the marina in the region, which gave them an inkling of the possible nursery's location.
The researchers interviewed the locals and found out that although it's illegal to catch sharks, anglers had been catching these juvenile sharks for years, which led the team to tag young sharks with transmitters in order to locate the nursery.
Jon Dohlin, director of the aquarium, said that the collected data are notably significant in understanding the behavior of these creatures as well as their migratory attributes. "I think that what marks the significance from our standpoint is that this finding pinpoints key moments in the life cycle of these animals," he told CBS News. "Think of this as a 'head-start program' for these sharks -- it provides exactly what they need to enter their maturity in the best condition possible."
Dohlin also said that although sand tiger sharks are "fearsome-looking," he emphasized that these creatures "pose no threat to human."
