Emily Chan
Four of the sharks headed southwest toward Hawaii and stayed in a remote section of the ocean. They also took deep dives in the location. Over the years, the researchers realized that large numbers of great white sharks were migrating offshore.
In 2018, Block and her team tracked great whites to the café to collect data about the environmental conditions and marine life there. The researchers found an oasis of microscopic algae and communities of marine animals.
However, they still didn’t know why the sharks chose to seek out food there every year instead of just hunting in their usual habitats.
Last fall, Block and Jorgensen led a team that tagged 37 great white sharks. The following spring, they embarked on the research vessel Falkor to observe the sharks in the café. They used underwater remote vehicles and information about water temperature, salinity, and environmental DNA to better understand the café.
“We found a high diversity of deep-sea fish and squids (over 100 species), which, in combination with observations made by the ROV and DNA sequencing, demonstrate a viable [food source] to support large pelagic organisms such as sharks and tunas,” Block said.
In 2016, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and UNESCO’s World Heritage Center recommended that the White Shark Café be designated as a World Heritage site. It is hoped this will happen sometime in the near future.
