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Located in the Pacific Ocean between Baja California and Hawaii, the White Shark Café is a mysterious region where great white sharks gather each winter and spring. Once considered an oceanic desert, the area has puzzled scientists for years. Great white sharks, normally found off the coast of California, make the long journey to this remote location. Barbara Block, a professor of marine science at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station, named the area after studying the sharks’ migration using electronic tags between 1999 and 2000.
The mysterious migration
Block’s research revealed that four of the six tagged sharks swam southwest and remained in this unexplored stretch of ocean the size of Colorado. These sharks also went deep diving, some reaching depths of 1,500 feet, which piqued the curiosity of scientists. Why would these sharks leave their abundant hunting grounds in California to travel to what was once considered a barren stretch of ocean?
A vibrant ocean oasis
In 2018, Block and her team set out to unravel the mystery behind the White Shark Café. They tagged 20 sharks and collected data on 10, yielding surprising findings. The Café, once thought to be abandoned, was teeming with life.
Deep-sea fish, squid and microscopic algae populated the area, suggesting it could be an important food source for the sharks. But the study suggested that the food options in the open ocean were no more than they could have found in their familiar hunting grounds, leading to speculation that the White Shark Café could be important for mating practices.
Mysteries of Shark Diving Patterns
The question remains, however: why do sharks seek this food in the open ocean? If you observe the sharks’ diving patterns, researchers noted that males increased their deep dives in April, leading to speculation about possible mating behavior. Still, it remains unclear why males dive more than females, leaving scientists like Block and her team searching for answers.
