A privately funded great white shark research group has confirmed the waters off Long Island’s Montauk Point are a “nursery,” a first in the study of great whites in the northwest Atlantic Ocean, the organization and other leading scientists say.
But the OCEARCH expedition, which is wrapping up months of work in the region Friday, is generating more than just scientific intrigue as it works off Long Island and Nantucket.
The Park City, Utah-based organization has also been embroiled in a public spat with shark researchers in Massachusetts, who complain OCEARCH is operating too close to state waters where they don’t have a permit and possibly compromising the state’s own white shark research with its tactics.
OCEARCH founder Chris Fischer maintains his team has legally remained in federal waters off Nantucket and that there’s “no scientific basis” for the concerns over his team’s methods, which include using fish chum to lure sharks, hooking them, and then lifting them out of the water to take samples and apply GPS monitoring devices.
“I’m saddened and shocked by the whole issue,” Fischer said Wednesday from Nantucket. “We’re generating really priceless data. We’re thrilled with what we’ve accomplished.”
The nonprofit, which operates largely on corporate funding, gained headlines in late August after confirming evidence of a white shark nursery off Long Island’s Montauk Point.