Researchers are saying the population of the great white shark is booming, and they conclude that’s a good thing, even though your dusty DVD of "Jaws" might suggest otherwise.
Chris Fischer, who has been studying and tagging great whites for the past decade and is founder of the research organization Ocearch, said he has observed an increasing number of the species.
"We're seeing an ocean that's teeming with life like we haven't seen since the '40s or '50s," Fischer told CBS News in an online story published on Thursday.
Ocearch has studied more than 90 great white sharks, tracking their migration patterns online.
"We know almost everything except for proving where they mate," Fischer said.
Humans shouldn't have much to fear about the rising shark numbers. Incidents of sharks biting humans are rare.
The International Shark Attack File compiled by the Florida Museum of Natural History identified 57 unprovoked shark bites on humans worldwide in 2022, lower than the most recent (2017-2021) five-year average of 70. There were nine shark-related fatalities in 2022, five of which were unprovoked, the same number of unprovoked fatalities in the most recent five-year average.
Matt Davis, a shark biologist with the Maine Department of Marine Resources, said the large populations of great whites in the western North Atlantic — where sharks migrate for warmer waters in the spring — is likely the result of a robust seal population, a prime source of food for the species.
"There is evidence that recovering seal populations, which are an important prey source, coupled with fishing protections, have allowed white shark populations in the western North Atlantic Ocean to slowly begin recovering following a decline in the 1970s and 1980s," Davis told the Portland Press Tribune in July of 2022. "Therefore, it is plausible to consider there may be more white sharks that migrate into our waters than there were a couple decades ago."
And that’s huge, said Dr. Bryan Franks of Jacksonville University in Florida and a member of the Ocearch team.
"I think what we are starting to see is maybe what the oceans looked like 100 years ago, 150 years ago," Franks told WPTV of West Palm Beach, Fla., "and I think that's a good thing because a healthier shark population reflects a healthier ocean."
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