Lydia The Shark May Give Birth

Researchers are using a hydraulic platform to tag the sharks safely – including Lydia (pictured)

Lydia, a Great White shark weighing one ton and outfitted with a GPS tracking device, has travelled almost 20,000 miles since her activities were first recorded last year. Now the man-eating fish has crossed the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and is swimming in the direction of Great Britain, possibly to give birth in nearby waters.

Scientists say that the Great White has swum over 300 miles within a 72-hour period, which may be a strong indication that she is pregnant and searching for a suitable place to deliver her babies.

A member of the Osearch shark tagging project reports that they believe that Lydia has been staying in the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean while her babies were gestating and is now making a mad dash towards Great Britain in an effort to find a safe place where her baby sharks can thrive after being born.

Chris Fischer, expedition leader and founding chairman of the Ocearch shark tagging project, said Lydia may be looking for somewhere to rear young.

He said: “If I had to guess, I would guess that Lydia is pregnant and that she has been out in the open ocean gestating her babies and that this spring she will lead us to where those baby white sharks are born – the nursery.”

The normal gestation period for Great White Sharks is 11 months, with a female shark capable of delivering as few as two to as many as a dozen baby sharks.

Although researchers took a blood sample from Lydia when she was outfitted with the tracking device, it did not indicate a pregnancy. Bookies in Blackpool are already posting odds on whether or not Lydia will stop first at Cornwall when she reaches the British coast. Because her tracking tag doesn’t send out signals in deep water, scientists can only track Lydia’s progress when she approaches the ocean’s surface during her journey.

On The Web:
The 2,000lb man-eating shark heading for Britain ‘may be pregnant’
http://www.cheddarvalleygazette.co.uk/2-000lb-man-eating-shark-heading-Britain-pregnant/story-20793941-detail/story.html