Two enormous great white sharks were tagged recently off Point Conception, Ca., allowing scientists and the public to follow their movements.
According to Michael Domeier of the Marine Conservation Science Institute, their nicknames are Dolores and Kara, measuring 17 and 16 feet, respectively.
17-foot great white shark off Point Conception.
Domeier stated Friday via Instagram: “Now we cross our fingers and hope we can track them for the next 18 months to learn where they give birth.”
That’s assuming that both sharks are or will soon become pregnant.
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But according to Keith Poe, who tagged the sharks on Oct. 20 during a 24-hour chumming session, both are rotund females that he baited and tagged for that reason.
Freshly tagged great white shark.
“I had about 40 sharks to the boat in 24 hours and picked out two that I wanted to tag: large females over 15 feet,” Poe told FTW Outdoors.
Poe added that all of the sharks were either adults or sub-adults. As he put it: “All were marine-mammal killers.”
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Unlike juvenile white sharks, which prey on stingrays and other fish, adult white sharks subsist largely on elephant seals, harbor seals, and sea lions.
Poe did not reveal how close he was to shore, but the top image shows Point Conception in the background.
The area has fairly recently become known as a “hot spot” for white shark activity because of an abundance of prey.
Poe said the larger sharks attracted to his boat were aggressive toward smaller sharks, and that Dolores bit another shark off his stern.
“I tagged her the next day; she was still there,” Poe said. “Giant shark. Really big, very aggressive, and she was after all the other sharks there.”
At one point, Poe reached out and gently placed a gloved hand on the snout of one of the smaller sharks.
Poe has caught and released thousands of sharks and has tagged dozens of white sharks and mako sharks for the Marine Conservation Science Institute (Marine CSI). The nonprofit’s app, Expedition White Shark, allows the public to follow the movements of those sharks.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Giant great white sharks tagged during 24-hour session off California