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Great white sharks are the biggest predatory fish in the world.
Close Encounter With a Great White Shark: Photos
Great white sharks are the biggest predatory fish in the world. And despite their mass, they can travel at ridiculous speeds, at over 35 miles per hour, to track their prey. Marine biologist Joe Butler traveled with two friends off Hans Bay, South Africa, in hopes of seeing some great whites. Which they did. See more of Butler's story on a new episode of This Happened Here on the Seeker Network. Shark Files: Shark Bite Risk Down 91 Percent Since 1950
Joe Butler
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"In order to bring them in closer, to give everyone a good look, the crew would employ a tuna head on the end of a long rope and drag it out of the way before the shark had a chance to grab it," Butler said. Shark Files: Great White Shark Photobombs Friend
Joe Butler
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This amazing photo, taken from inside the cage, shows the shark grabbing the bait before anyone had a chance to react. "There's actually quite a sobering moment when you realize that proverbially you're the fish out of water, this is their home, and you’re not actually supposed to be there," Butler said. Shark 'Highways' Crisscross The World: Photos
Joe Butler
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"I think a lot people have this image in their head of them being sort of an idealistic predator, but in reality these animals are still quite vulnerable. However, seeing them in their natural environment is something I would recommend to anyone in a heartbeat." Above, Butler (left), prepares to cage dive with his two classmates. Shark Files: Scary Footage Shows 15-Ft Great White In Mass.
Joe Butler
Things are looking up for U.S. East Coast shark populations, with a new count of the fish coming in at a historic high.
In a survey just concluded by researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration's Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NFSC), 2,835 sharks, across 13 species, were captured, tagged and released.
That census count is a whopping jump from the 2012 survey, in which 1,831 sharks were tagged. In fact, NOAA says, it represents the most sharks ever counted in the survey, which has taken place every two to three years since 1986.
"An increase in the numbers caught and tagged during each survey indicates a slow climb back," said Karyl Brewster-Geisz, in a press release. "It is very good news for shark populations and for the ecosystem," the scientist with the NOAA Fisheries Office of Highly Migratory Species added.
The survey covered coastal waters along traditional shark migration routes between Florida and Delaware. Many shark species journey north to Delaware in the summer as those waters warm up, after having spent winter and spring in the waters off Florida.
"The number of fish this year was amazing," said Lisa Natanson, a scientist at the Narragansett Laboratory of the NFSC. "We captured and tagged more fish than ever before."
Interesting highlights noted by the NOAA included capture of the first bull shark since 2001, as well as the capture of three white sharks, the latter a species not seen in the 2012 survey at all and only once in the 2009 count.
The largest shark captured during the 2015 survey was a tiger shark off North Carolina that was 12.5 feet long. Meanwhile, sandbar, Atlantic sharpnose, dusky, and tiger sharks were the most common sharks encountered during the survey.
"Sandbar sharks were all along the coast, while most of the dusky sharks were off North Carolina," said Natanson.