News & Press Releases

Join us for a traditional St. Patrick's Day Dinner!

Attention commuters! Please join us at the TV Pit in the Campus Center for our March Commuter Pit Stop, from 10am-2pm. If you have questions please e-mail commuters@umassd.edu - we'd love to hear from you!

Stop by the Library for a Delicious Smoothie pop-up!

Department of Fisheries Oceanography
MS Thesis Defense

"Co-occurrence of White Sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) Along Coastal Cape Cod, MA"

By: Keri Anne Goncalves

Advisors: Steven X. Cadrin and Greg Skomal

Committee Member: Jeff Turner

Tuesday March 18th, 2025
2pm
SMAST East 101-103
836 S. Rodney French Blvd, New Bedford
and via Zoom

Abstract:

Periodic aggregation and site fidelity are common occurrences for many terrestrial and aquatic species and is typically driven by resource availability. The white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) is a species driven by such, with aggregation behavior throughout multiple stages of its life history. Juveniles exhibit resource-driven aggregations at nursery sites where they may reside for extended periods of time. Large juveniles, sub-adults, and adults tend to exhibit seasonal residency at aggregation sites along their migration routes. Atlantic white sharks form distinct communities during critical early phases of life, though little is known of spatiotemporal trends during late life stages. Using a five-year acoustic telemetry dataset from eastern Cape Cod, MA, this study investigated spatiotemporal associations between tagged individual white sharks (n=185). Network analysis was applied to acoustic detection data (n=365,880 detections) collected seasonally from 2017-2021 to identify strength of associations between groups or individuals. These analyses revealed sexual segregation and behavioral avoidance over the course of the five-year study. In each year and across all years combined aggregating sharks exhibited overall significant negative co-occurrence patterns. This study finds notable interannual variations in social dynamics as well as associations among male and female sharks across multiple years emphasizing the possibility of sex-specific variations in social behavior.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://umassd.zoom.us/j/92189558473

Note: Meeting passcode required, email contact below to receive 

To request the Zoom passcode, or for any other questions, please

Mary Wilson, Associate Professor of English and Communication, presents, "Virginia Woolf's Modernism of Failure." This event is part of the Women's History Month Faculty Speaker Series, sponsored by Women's & Gender Studies and the Center for Women, Gender & Sexuality. Lunch provided.

Thank you to the Lusophone Student Union for partnering for this event!