Experts shocked by swarms of huge sharks discovered in Northeastern US

Over a thousand basking sharks were spotted swarming along the Northeastern U.S., National Geographic Reports.

The sharks, which are known to be a solitary species, were seen during Aerial surveys that were meant to find endangered North Atlantic right whales.

A recent study, published in the Journal of Fish Biology documents 10 sightings of large groups of basking sharks between 1980 and 2013 along the coast of Nova Scotia to Long Island.

In total, the researchers uncovered roughly 10,000 documented sightings of basking sharks, with 99 percent of those being in groups of seven or less.

So why are the sharks congregating? Well, lead author of the study Leah Crowe suggests the sharks were most likely feeding on Zooplankton.

The study also suggests that these huge sharks, that can grow up to 32 feet, may have gathered together to reduce the drag caused by having their mouths open while feeding.

However, Crowe says that the aerial data provide limited information, and doesn’t tell them much about environmental factors.

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