As Shark Week puts the spotlight on ocean predators, researchers say blacktip sharks are spending more time farther north along the East Coast, expanding their summer range into areas where beachgoers historically encountered them less often.Researchers at Florida Atlantic University say warming ocean temperatures are reshaping the sharks' annual migration, allowing them to travel farther north before returning south for the winter, according to FOX 35 Orlando.For more than a decade, researchers have tracked blacktip sharks along the East Coast using aerial surveys and satellite tags.Their data shows the sharks travel north each spring, with many reaching as far as Long Island, New York, by late summer, the outlet reported.SHARK SIGHTINGS SPIKE NEAR AMERICA'S BEACHES AS JULY 4 CROWDS HEAD TO SHORE FOR WEEKENDAs waters continue to warm, researchers expect the sharks to push even farther north while spending less time in South Florida during the winter."They are just like us.
They like our air-conditioned temperature," Dr.Stephen Kajiura, a Florida Atlantic University professor who has studied blacktip sharks for about 15 years, told FOX 35 Orlando.Researchers say blacktip sharks are extending their stay farther north along the East Coast.
(Bernd Weißbrod/picture alliance via Getty Images)"Our room temperature is 72 or so.[That's] the perfect temperature for these blacktip sharks," Kajiura said.Researchers are already seeing evidence of that shift, with blacktip sharks occurring farther north, including off Long Island, where beachgoers historically encountered the species less frequently, Kajiura noted.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTERAs blacktip sharks swim close to shore, they are among the species beachgoers are most likely to see."These are the ones that are in close proximity to the surfers and the swimmers," Kajiura said.
"That's the species that's most likely to have encounters with people."As waters continue to warm, researchers expect th...