Sharks Make a Comeback as Scientists Say the Ocean Is ‘Teeming With Life’ Again

Over the past decade, researchers have traced the migratory patterns of more than 90 great white sharks. These apex predators, they believe, are now at their most populous since the 1940s or '50s - at least off the East Coast, where the study has primarily taken place, as reported by CBS.

"As we bring them back, then we set the ocean back into balance and reset the system so that we have the best health [not only] for the sharks, but for ourselves," Dr. Bob Heuter, chief scientist of the non-profit research organization Ocearch, told the station.

"We're seeing an ocean that's teeming with life," Chris Fischer, founder of the organization, said to CBS.

The scientists have unveiled much about the great white shark's lifecycle, except for their mating locations, which remain enigmatic.

Heuter cautioned that with the resurgence of the shark population, important for ocean ecology, humans need to exercise more care in aquatic environments, as advised by CBS. "We should approach water the same way we approach land," he remarked.

Great white sharks, possessing 300 teeth and weighing up to 7,000 pounds, can grow up to 20 feet in length, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Despite Ocearch's promising findings, the WWF continues to list the species as "vulnerable." Sharks often become inadvertent catches of commercial fisheries and targets for sport fishers, states the organization.

In 2022, the Florida Museum of Natural History reported 41 unprovoked shark attacks in the U.S., including one fatal incident.