Are Sharks More Common in Rhode Island?

Floating Whale Carcass Creates a Rare Opportunity

In July, the Atlantic Shark Institute (ASI) and the Mystic Aquarium encountered a dead whale off Block Island. Jon Dodd, ASI’s executive director, and Sarah Callan, manager of animal rescue at the Mystic Aquarium, had spent hours searching for the whale. While lifeless, a whale carcass can travel long distances, pushed around by the wind and currents. To make a search more effective, scientists use spotter planes or do grid searches. Given the last-minute nature of the trip, the duo used the grid technique.

With hard work, persistence and a bit of luck, Callan caught sight of the whale in the distance. Dodd described the experience: “It was tremendous; it felt like a needle in a haystack. We had started to think the whale had drifted beyond our grid search. Sarah was the one who spotted it, and we were just ecstatic.”

The whale had attracted a juvenile white shark, about eight feet long. The shark was feeding on the carcass, drawn to the blubber, which holds an extraordinary amount of calories and will help this young ocean predator continue to grow. Dodd used a GoPro on a pole to film the shark beneath the surface, and the curious shark swam right up to the device to say a quick “hello.”

A Matter of Perspective

So what is going on? Are Rhode Island’s shark populations increasing?

Like many aspects of science and our world, there is a complicated answer to a rather simple question.

Shifting prey populations are part of the equation, as sharks aggregate heavily where the food is. This leads to anecdotal experiences of sharks being “everywhere.” As Jon Dodd told me, “What we are dealing with quite often is something called a shifting baseline.”

Dr. David Taylor from Roger Williams University concurs with Dodd. Taylor explains: “Each generation perceives the conditions they have experienced during their lifetime as normal. In other words, as shark populations recover in some coastal areas, including Rhode Island, we tend to view shark sightings as unusually high. In reality, they often represent only a small proportion of historical abundance.”

Dodd further explains that so many shark species have been reduced so significantly over the past 50 years that we have lost sight of how productive the ocean once was, gradually lowering our ecological expectations over time. Just because we are seeing more sharks now than we did 10 years ago, it doesn't mean it’s at an historic high.

“People’s baseline for what is out in the ocean can be distorted based on when they were born and what they view as normal,” Dodd added.

How to Avoid a Shark Attack

So what does this mean for you? Should you be more concerned about swimming in the Atlantic Ocean? While sharks can be intimidating, most shark attacks are accidental or incidental in nature. If you follow a few simple rules—avoid swimming at dusk and dawn, stay clear of shark prey animals like seals and swim in clear water where you can see the shark and the shark won’t confuse you for a snack—then there is little to worry about.

I have gone free-swimming with pelagic sharks on numerous occasions, and the sharks were much more afraid of me than I was of them, an important lesson. This is not to say sharks are harmless. These are some of the ocean’s apex predators, after all. Let’s not fear sharks as the mindless predators that sensational media outlets make them out to be, but at the same time, we must still respect them and swim responsibly.

Did a Shark Steal My Fish?

Among the most common species Rhode Islanders run into in warmer months are sandbar sharks. These are often the species that predate striped bass as frustrated anglers fight to bring their catches onshore. Although they are generally slow-moving and pose little threat to humans, they play an important role as mid-level predators in the region’s nearshore marine ecosystem. Around Block Island, they are regularly documented by ASI’s Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV) surveys, providing researchers with valuable insights into their seasonal presence and abundance and underscoring the importance of habitat found in Rhode Island’s coastal waters.

Dr. Taylor notes that researchers are now watching for potential shifts in the ages of sharks using these waters, particularly the appearance of younger individuals that could signal a northward expansion of nursery habitat. Historically, sandbar shark nurseries have been concentrated in estuaries of the mid-Atlantic and southern U.S., but warming coastal waters may encourage these nursery areas to gradually move farther north.

Watch the New England Emmy®-nominated Chasing Fins

During this shark-crazed time, my partners at Ocean State Media and I felt it appropriate to re-release the pilot of the Ocean State: Rhode Island’s Wild Coast series: Chasing Fins. The film showcases the hard work of the scientists, students and volunteers at the Atlantic Shark Institute. You can watch it on WPVD-TV or stream it on PBS Passport.