Why do sharks swim so close to shore? Scientists have finally discovered the answer

Travel

By Alex Mitchell

Summer’s almost here — and so are the sharks.

For years, shark sightings close to beaches and shallow waters have become more common as many sun soakers have been subject to unfortunate run-ins with the apex predator.

Now, heading into the Memorial Day Weekend kickoff to summer, new research from Padaro Beach — a gorgeous, sandy enclave north of Los Angeles — gives a clearer understanding of why so many sharks, especially great whites, are coming near shores.

The study, published in the journal Frontiers In Marine Science, uncovered that it is actually young shark “pups” gravitating en masse to the most shallow water they can find.

What’s so appealing about the shore — especially just 1 kilometer or closer to the sand — for the baby jaws?

For starters, sharks aren’t given maternal care after they are born.

Typically, the young pups and juveniles will gather in adult-less enclaves of “nurseries,” as seen in the Santa Barbara area beach where 22 were tagged and tracked between 2021 and 2022.

As it turns out, baby sharks love the warm water and have been seen closest to the surface during the hottest times of the day.

“We showed that juveniles directly altered their vertical position in the water column to stay between 16° and 22°C [60.8° to 71.6°F], and if possible between 20° and 22°C [32° to 71.6°F],” first author Emily Spurgeon told Phys.org.

“This may be their optimum to maximize growth efficiency within the nursery.”

However, Spurgeon added that “temperature isn’t the whole story,” and researchers next want to gain a better understanding of why the young sharks gather in nurseries to begin with.

“Future experiments will look at individual relationships, for example, to see if some individuals move among nurseries in tandem,” she said, adding that another factor at play — as people do with sharks — is to avoid exposure to predators.