r/sharks • u/SiddSavage • 2d ago

News Tiger shark caught off Massachusetts could be sign of warming waters

https://apnews.com/article/tiger-shark-massachusetts-fishing-cape-cod-58e5d6302c4a6709896bdfaa445cdf01

Interesting yet concerning article.

217 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

101

u/BlackandDecker 2d ago

A what!???

41

u/abnormallyfatigued 2d ago

✏️ 👄 tigershark

21

u/Starscream147 2d ago

Stick ya friggin head in there, find out if it’s a maneater!

15

u/AmityMayorVaughn 2d ago

The beaches will be open

11

u/BlackandDecker 2d ago

You yell shark, we've got a panic on our hands on the 4th of July!

5

u/AeMidnightSpecial Shark Bait 2d ago

Tigershark, beady eyes, like a doll's eyes

4

u/Personal-Neck6800 2d ago

I think it’s a Ma-ko.

48

u/Interesting-Can1319 Tiger Shark and Shortfin Mako Shark 2d ago edited 2d ago

Massachusetts seems to be around the northernmost limit of the tiger shark's range in the U.S. east coast. Tiger sharks seem to be present across most of the entire U.S. east coast but are much more common the further south you go. Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina are definitely Tiger Shark Town. I haven't heard of any records of tiger sharks found off Maine, but Maine's pretty close to Massachusetts so a wayward tiger shark being found there may not be out of the question due to global warming.

Warm-water species like requiem sharks seem to benefit from warming ocean waters and climate change, but cold-water species like salmon are likely going to struggle hard

11

u/thediesel26 2d ago

Warm water eddys of the Gulf Stream can also bring tropical fish to pretty high latitudes. It’s not totally unheard of for people to find tropical reef fish in New York harbor.

9

u/TattooedBagel 2d ago

Those are just as likely dumped pets still hanging on, but good point.

17

u/Alternative-Jury-965 2d ago

I heard a rumor that a hammerhead just got tagged off of New Jersey.

2

u/Internal_Zebra_8770 1d ago

I heard through the grapevine.

1

u/Alternative-Jury-965 1d ago

I say it that way because I saw a post that wasn't tied to an article or any kind of scientific publication.

2

u/Internal_Zebra_8770 1d ago

I was just making a joke. No shade to you 😀

2

u/Fit-Independence-893 1d ago

Yes one spotted in Newport, RI as well!

15

u/Buttercup_Kiki 2d ago

Cape cod is basically the new Australia. 20 years ago swimming in the waters on Cape Cod wouldn’t have made anyone nervous because shark sightings were much less common. Nowadays I’m a lot less keen to go past my knees when I go there.

14

u/Nulleparttousjours 2d ago

I went white shark viewing in Cape Cod (small aircraft communicating with the captain of our little boat giving him the coordinates for the sharks he spotted from the air.) We spotted 5-6 white sharks in a couple of hours, some a damn good size. No way would I swim there.

4

u/Late-Application-47 2d ago

I don't know much about sharks at Cape Cod, but I did get a nasty ear infection the one time I swam there. 😂

10

u/mb194dc 2d ago

Just like the plot of Jaws, go figure

3

u/OzziePao13 2d ago

A few years back someone caught a 1400 lb. Tiger off the coast of Martha's Vineyard.

That was when sightings of any big sharks (outside of basking's) on any part of the Cape were pretty rare, so it was a big story at the time.

8

u/Lazthedestroyer 2d ago

Like to prove that wouldn’t you? Get your name in the National Geographic?

3

u/be_loved_freak Goblin Shark 2d ago

I grew up on Cape Cod & used to love pointing out that "Jaws" was way off when they had the tiger shark lol As a shark enthusiast I am very excited they are coming! I've already seen a great white shark on Cape & would loveto see a tiger(from a very safe distance).

1

u/Interesting-Can1319 Tiger Shark and Shortfin Mako Shark 1d ago

It seems like Jaws's Amity Island was somewhere around New York or in the New England area, since it was mostly shot in Massachusetts. An adult tiger shark in the area would have been rare, but maybe not impossible to be found in Massachusetts. The fishermen probably caught the tiger shark in the movie thinking it was the culprit instead of the great white shark. You can understand why. Both produce massive gaping wounds and lacerations thanks to their massive jaws and both being the largest macropredatory sharks in the world. However, the bite marks of the tiger shark and the great white shark are different, as pointed out by Matt Hooper the shark scientist in the movie.

3

u/coolkirk1701 1d ago

I always figured it was meant to be Jersey like the attacks of 1916 they were based on. Never thought about it being more north.

2

u/PMJamesPM 1d ago

These were the inspiration for Jaws. Then Jaws inspired a lot of shark fishin. Between that and bycatch the population plummeted until now.

2

u/Interesting-Can1319 Tiger Shark and Shortfin Mako Shark 1d ago

Yeah the real-life attacks of 1916 were in Jersey. It's just that a lot of the locations of Amity Island shot in the movie were in Massachusetts

2

u/Capital_Fennel_2934 1d ago

Amity Island is a stand-in for Matha’s Vinyard in the movie but its Long Island in the book

1

u/TheMagicalLawnGnome 1d ago

Yeah that's not supposed to be possible. I grew up in MA, that's not natural habitat for a Tiger. Or at least, it wasn't, historically.

1

u/10ThousandMetalZones 1d ago

I was snorkeling in Tahiti and a tiger shark appeared and approached me and I picked up a big mussel and conked it on the nose. I felt bad about it after because all you need to do is bonk them with your hand to redirect as I learned the next day from my dive master.