Four Floridians went fishing in Gulf of Mexico 65 miles offshore on Friday
They suddenly noticed a 16ft great white shark approaching their boat
Shark circled the boat for some three hours as it ate chum thrown in the water
At one point, shark could be seen getting close enough for captain to pet it
Shark also took a bite of the motor, though no serious damage was caused
Disney helps fund shark research at Mote
Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium is pleased to announce that support from the Disney Conservation Fund (DCF) will aid Mote’s mission of studying white sharks, their life cycle and habitat use, through collaboration with the nonprofit OCEARCH.
Support from DCF will allow Mote to deploy an additional 12 satellite tags used to collect key data about white shark movements and habitats.
Building on years of successful missions with the group OCEARCH, these additional Pop-up Satellite Archival Tags (PSATs) will allow scientists to gather information necessary for understanding white shark migration patterns, critical habitats, and vulnerability to environmental threats. The PSAT is applied near the base of a shark’s dorsal fin, and continuously collects the shark’s location and depth, as well as the water temperature. After a programmed time of usually one year, the tag “pops off” and transmits its data via satellite to scientists on l