MANTEO, N.C. (WAVY) — One of Mother Nature’s most feared predators is turning local waters into a nursery.
A new study from scientists with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality shows bull sharks are migrating north to create nurseries.
The spot they like the best — the Pamlico Sound.
Spend time in and around the Outer Banks, and you know sharks are nothing new.
“We have sand tiger sharks, sandpaper sharks, and we have a nurse shark in there,” said Maylon White, the director of the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island.
Those sharks in the aquarium represent what you can find off of the coast of Cape Hatteras. On the other side of the island are bull sharks.
“Bull sharks have always been in Pamlico Sound,” said Lee Paramore, a biologist supervisor with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Division Marine Fisheries.
White said, “Bull sharks are considered aggressive, that’s why you hear a lot about them.”
Plus, their numbers are growing. Paramore surveys all of the animals in the Pamlico Sound, and over the last 15 years, the number of baby bull sharks increased.
“What we’ve seen in the last 10-15 years is, we’re starting to see birthing of bull sharks in the Pamlico Sound,” said Paramore. “There were 50 in the last six years and there were only six in the first nine. What is new and interesting is just the consistency we’ve seen with the fact that bull sharks are birthing young in the Pamlico sound.”
A researcher with the Smithsonian, Dr. Charles Bangley, got a hold of the numbers to figure out why. He says warmer water is bringing bull sharks to the sound.
“Temperature was strongly correlated to the number of bull sharks we were seeing in our survey,” Paramore said.
White says anytime a species changes a nursery ground, it’s worth taking note. He said, “Up until recently, most of the nursery areas were found around Florida and the northern gulf of Mexico.”
Plus, bull sharks are able to swim in both saltwater and fresh water.
“They have special glands that allow them to adapt to that so they can travel further up freshwater areas,” said White.
That means shallow waters, like those you might find along the banks of the Pamlico Sound, make the perfect nursery for these baby bull sharks.
White said, “The fact that you’ve got the young of the year and one-years-olds, very small, young sharks, using this as a nursery ground, when we haven’t had evidence of that before, that’s what’s interesting.”
Plus, many female bull sharks show site fidelity, meaning they return to the same areas to give birth.”
“If water temperatures do tend to increase as we move into the future, we could see this become more of a consistent birthing area for bull sharks,” said Paramore.
Experts say this information isn’t a reason to panic yet, but you may see more sharks in the water.
“I think they may see more interactions with bull sharks with fishing, you know commercial fishing, recreational fishing,” Paramore said. “I don’t think there’s any great cause for concern for people who are swimming. They just need to take the normal precautions that you would take when you enter the water.”
So keep your eyes on the water, as scientists keep their eyes on what’s in it.
Experts do have suggestions to avoid sharks in the water. They include not swimming at dusk or dawn, swimming in groups, and not wearing shiny jewelry.
