A hammerhead shark was recently spotted far off the Cape Cod coast during a New England Aquarium aerial survey of a marine protected area.
The hammerhead was one of more than 700 ocean animals that researchers saw in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, the only marine national monument in the U.S. Atlantic Ocean.
The New England Aquarium scientists flew above the biodiversity hotspot 150 miles off the coast of Cape Cod last week, capturing photos of fin whales and pilot whales along with bottlenose, striped, and Risso’s dolphins.
The researchers also spotted Chilean devil rays, manta rays, common dolphins, sunfish, and the hammerhead shark.
“The Aquarium has been documenting the marine mammal biodiversity in the Monument for seven years, and every aerial survey flight is breathtaking,” said Orla O’Brien, an associate scientist in the Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life.
“Our photos only scratch the surface of the ocean life that calls this area home,” O’Brien added.
Many other animals live below the surface, where dozens of coral species create deep-sea ecosystems.
Last summer, hammerhead sharks were commonly seen off of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. As the waters warm, the Northeast can expect to see more species like this, according to shark researchers.
Meanwhile on Thursday, a great white shark was seen close to shore in Orleans, a common shark sighting these days.
“!! SHARK ALERT !! White shark spotted 30 yards off Nauset South ORV Beach,” tweeted MA Sharks at 11:17 a.m. on Thursday.
Also, a 14-foot white shark was seen about a half-mile off of Chatham’s Monomoy Island, a shark hotspot this time of year as the apex predators hunt for seals.
The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument features three underwater canyons deeper than the Grand Canyon and four seamounts, or extinct volcanoes, that rise higher than any mountain east of the Rockies.
In 2016, then-President Barack Obama designated the 5,000-square-mile area the first marine national monument in the U.S. Atlantic Ocean.
The New England Aquarium and Mystic Aquarium played a key role in the designation of the Monument, providing the scientific evidence of the importance of this diverse habitat, which offers food and shelter to many endangered and threatened marine species.