“LeeBeth” might sound like the name of a girl who lived down the street in your youth.
The name certainly has an endearing quality, with a twinge of southern charm.
And that makes sense considering she first came to public awareness off the coast of South Carolina.
Incase you haven’t figured it out, “LeeBeth” isn’t the girl next door, but a 2,600 pound great white shark caught, fitted with a satellite transmitter and released by Capt. Chip Michalove of Outcast Fishing Dec. 8, 2023.
Her journey into Texas Gulf waters over the next two months became a media sensation and not only brought attention to her kind but an organization whose sole focus is to educate and inspire people about them.
The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy (AWSC) based out of Cape Cod has set out to “support scientific research, improve public safety, and educate the community to inspire white shark conservation.”
“LeeBeth” made thousands aware of the group’s app, “Sharktivity”.
According to AWSC officials, the app was developed with input from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, the Cape Cod National Seashore, and officials from Cape Cod and South Shore towns to raise awareness of the presence of white sharks off their coast.
The App sightings are fed by researchers, safety officials, and users that upload photos for confirmation. By enabling App users to report shark sightings and upload photos for confirmation, we are effectively crowd-sourcing critical data points on where sharks are spotted so as to reduce encounters and promote safety. Data from sharks with acoustic tags and Smart Position and Temperature Tags (SPOT) are also available on the App.
Public sightings submitted through Sharktivity will be verified by the New England Aquarium.
Additionally, through the AWSC and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), acoustic detection data for tagged white sharks off the coast of Massachusetts and a catalog of over 600 tagged and untagged individual Northwest Atlantic white sharks, identified by AWSC, can be explored through the White Shark Logbook.
AWSC also does educational outreach, special shark-centric eco tours and an important and often (in my opinion) missing factor in shark awareness-safety.
Let’s face it. Great whites sharks are the largest predatory fish on the planet and they do occasionally attack humans. Making people aware of them is important for both the sake of people and sharks.
For example, I had no idea there are purple flags that identify great white presence in an area.
I learned that from AWSC.
You can learn much more about white shark safety here.
“We love interacting with the public to raise awareness of these amazing creatures,” said AWSC research scientist Megan Winton.
“These are truly incredible animals and we want to help raise their conservation profile and to educate people about potential interactions.”
AWSC has been mostly involved on the East Coast but they are already helping the cause along the Gulf Coast where white shark sightings are on the rise.
This is proven by AWSC’s tagged sharks along with that of another research group called Ocearch.
“We still has much to learn about great whites and their movements and what we’re seeing in the Gulf of Mexico has been interesting to so many people, myself included. It makes us want to do more to raise awareness of these truly amazing animals,” Winton said.
“LeeBeth” would be proud.
Chester Moore
For more information on the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy click here.
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