The White Shark Café, located in the Pacific Ocean between Baja California and Hawaii, is a mysterious region where great white sharks gather every winter and spring. Once considered an ocean desert, the area has puzzled scientists for years. Great white sharks, usually 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, gave the area its name while studying the sharks’ migrations using electronic tags in 1999 and 2000.
Mysterious migration
Block’s research showed that four of the six tagged sharks swam southwest, staying in this unexplored stretch of ocean the size of Colorado. The sharks also dived at depths, some reaching depths of 1,500 feet, which piqued scientists’ curiosity. Why were these sharks leaving their abundant hunting grounds in California to head to what was once considered a barren part of the ocean?
Living ocean oasis
In 2018, Block and her team set out on a mission to unravel the mystery of the White Shark Café. They tagged 20 sharks and collected data from 10, revealing some surprising findings. The café, once thought to be deserted, was bustling with activity.
Deep-sea fish, squid and microscopic algae inhabited the area, suggesting it could be an important food source for sharks. However, the study suggests that the food options in the open ocean were no greater than those they could find in their known fishing grounds, leading to speculation that the White Shark Café may be important for mating practices.
Secrets of Shark Diving Patterns
But the question remains: Why are sharks searching for this food in the open ocean? By observing the sharks’ diving patterns, scientists noticed that males increased their diving depths in April, leading to speculation about potential mating behavior. It’s still unclear why males dive more than females, which has scientists like Block and her team searching for answers.
