Shark expert Rich Weddle discusses uptick in sightings in Tri-State Area
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Shark sightings seem to be increasing, especially in our area, along with people's fascination with them.
CBS2's Jenna DeAngelis visited experts in New Jersey to learn more about their presence here.
Just as it is no surprise to see people soaking up the sun at the shore, seeing sharks right off the coast of Sea Isle shouldn't come as a shock.
As Rich Weddle, curator at Sea Life Aquarium New Jersey, points out, there are plenty of species you will find in our waters.
"In the summer, we have great whites found off shore, we have tiger sharks, we have hammerheads, makos, threshers," Weddle said.
Weddle walked DeAngelis through the aquarium's "City Under the Sea" to explain trends in our area.
"What a lot of people don't realize is New Jersey is a very vitally important nursery ground for a lot of species of sharks," Weddle said. "They come here in the summer to have their pups, and then the babies find sheltered areas in the bays along the New Jersey coast to feed and have protection from larger predators."
He says it could be warmer sea surface temperatures bringing them closer to shore, or their food, which he explained while preparing a shark meal.
"As schools of bait fish move closer to the shoreline, the sharks will follow that prey," Weddle said.
And since we don't smell or taste like food, most sharks have very little interest in us.
"Most sharks want to eat fish or marine mammals like seals. Most of the cases of attacks are mistaken identity," Weddle said. "In our tanks, many of the sharks will stay away from the divers when the divers are in the water."
Experts say we as humans pose a bigger threat to sharks than they do to us.
"They're very sensitive to overfishing. Populations recover slowly. So there's tremendous pressure on sharks right now," Weddle said.
"My biggest advice to beachgoers is always swim where there's a lifeguard. Lifeguards are trained to recognize the presence of sharks, but also things that are much more dangerous like riptides," Weddle added. "I think a much bigger threat in New Jersey that people need to be aware of than the sharks themselves."
Keeping in mind, the ocean is their home - not ours.
You can track some sharks through nonprofit Ocearch, which has a database online. To do so, CLICK HERE. Ocearch showed an 11-foot white shark named Freya swimming off the Jersey coast earlier this month.