It’s so darn hot out there that even animals that live in the water are looking for somewhere cooler to hang out. If it were something as innocent and adorable as a clownfish, it wouldn’t be so unnerving. But, instead, it’s sharks, a creature that has been driving people away from beaches since Jaws, even though, statistically speaking, you aren’t very likely to get bitten by one.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says that the oceans are heating up, absorbing more than 90 percent of the excess heat that the sun beats down on us, as climate change intensifies. As such, the animals living in increasingly hot water are moving north, where conditions are a bit cooler.
This news comes to us from two studies: one was published this past April in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series, and the other was published in Wildlife Research.
Two separate studies conducted by different research teams reached similar conclusions: warming oceans are changing where sharks live, migrate, and raise their young, as the sharks are essentially doing an aquatic impression of you when you race back into the air conditioning after being outside for a few minutes.
Sharks Are Looking for Cooler Water as the Oceans Heat Up
Researchers found juvenile bull sharks are establishing new nursery habitats farther north along the Atlantic coast, including North Carolina, as warming waters have made those areas more comfortable to live in.
The pop culture monster known as the great white shark is also changing its address, as, according to USA Today, great whites winter in the Gulf of Mexico before traveling thousands of miles along the East Coast up to Canada to spend their summers in the cooler waters around Nova Scotia. This explains why shark sightings have jumped up in recent years in places like New York.
For this completely alters your summer swimming plans, keep in mind that sharks are still not terribly interested in attacking humans. It happens, but you’re much more likely to be struck by lightning than be bitten by a shark.
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