When a pair of Wilmington men spotted a shark cruising about one mile off the coast of Wrightsville Beach last Sunday, Nov. 8, they were flabbergasted.
But authorities say that a white shark, commonly referred to as a Great White Shark, so close to the coast may not be as rare of an occurrence as some may believe. What is rare, they say, is having the crystal clear water needed to spot one.
“It’s not unusual for those sharks to be around here, but it is unusual to actually see one like that,” said Frederick Scharf, associate professor of fisheries biology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. “They pass through here regularly.”
Scharf said white sharks are attracted by the cool water that tends to be an inshore characteristic this time of year. There’s less volume of water in the more shallow areas, so it tends to respond to air temperatures much faster than water farther offshore.
The water also tends to be clear during the winter time, due mostly to the fact that plant life like plankton and other microalgae are pulled away from the surface by wind and sediment. Aqua plant life thus has a tough time photosynthesizing and disappears.
Hap Fatzinger, curator at the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher, said that while water temperatures may contribute to the shark’s attraction towards inshore waters, white sharks will follow and feed on fish whenever the opportunity exists.
“This is a good white shark temperature and there’s a lot of food associated with this temperature that the shark would feed on normally,” he said.
Scharf suspects that the shark spotted on Sunday was in migratory mode, possibly moving from the north. Studies show that white sharks can travel thousands of miles, often showing transoceanic migration.
“For all we know this shark could be on its way to Africa,” he said.
Wilmington men spot shark
Images of the now infamous white shark surfaced when Steve Boehling, a Wilmington native, posted his cell-phone pictures on Wblivesurf.com.
Boehling, 44, said he and a friend, Mike Ross, 41, were trolling through a school of false albacore in the clear blue water about one mile off Crystal Pier.
The fishermen weren’t having much luck, and they were about to head towards another spot to try again when suddenly Boehling spotted a fin sticking up out of the water closer to shore.
“I thought it was another dolphin,” he said, “but it stayed on the surface. Mike and I looked at each other and we said, ‘That’s a shark! Let’s go over there.’”
Boehling estimated that the shark, which authorities believe to be a white, was between 16-18 feet in length.
They pulled their boat up beside the enormous fish, watching intently as it continued skimming the surface. Boehling said it wasn’t feeding at that time, but he suspects it may have been feeding earlier.
“I was shocked to see the size of that fish,” he said. “It was amazing. It really was. I didn’t have time to be scared then—it was just overwhelming. It was so surprising that I didn’t react other than to stare at it and try to gauge how big it was.”
Wanting to document their find, Ross tried to snag a picture of the shark with a cell phone, but the sun was so bright he couldn’t see the LCD screen. Ross snapped a picture anyway, hoping for the best, Boehling said.
“At least we could prove it, because otherwise we figured it would a Big Foot story,” Boehling said.
At first, Boehling wasn’t sure whether the shark was a white or a tiger, but after noticing some of the distinguishing features, he was convinced they had found the ocean’s alpha predator.
Fatzinger, the aquarium curator, later confirmed their beliefs. An examination of the photo found the discriminating characteristics of a white shark, like the body shape, robust girth, pointed snout, size of the pectoral fins and white underbelly.
The shark disappeared, diving deeper into the water, about a half mile from shore, Boehling said.
Friend or foe?
A shark sighting usually sparks a wave of public fear and paranoia, but authorities say a shark attack is one of the last things people should be worried about when entering the ocean water. People are more likely to die from rip currents or rough conditions then be involved in a shark attack.
“White sharks usually conjure up these images of fear and ferocious man-eater, but they’re just another ocean predator,” Fatzinger said. “It’s a unique, beautiful animal that very few people ever have the opportunity to see.”
Fatzinger is urging the public to harness this opportunity to spur interest in an animal that authorities believe has been over-sensationalized on television and in movies.
One common misconception is that white sharks are commonly referred to as Great White Sharks. But Fatzinger says most all sharks are at times referred to by scientists as “Great” depending on their size, but media has perpetually attached this word to dramatize the white shark.
Being labeled as ferocious monsters led to a drastic decrease in the white shark population. They were prized by hunters who took the capture of a white shark as a source of pride, Fatzinger said.
He said white sharks are slow growing and their reproduction rates are so low, that it doesn’t take much effort to reduce the population, but it takes a long time for the population to rebound.
Only recently, since these sharks have been protected by law, has the population climbed, now reaching more healthy levels.
Boehling, an avid fisherman, said that since his sighting of the white shark off Wrightsville Beach, he will be more reserved before entering the water when the temperature is cooler.
“I know what the curator says, and I respect his opinion, but I’ve been out here on the water for 40 years and I’ve talked to several other commercial fisherman and they’ve never seen a great white this close in,” he said. “Not that I won’t go in the water now, but I’ll just be a little more cautious.”
