2 giant great white sharks spotted off Hilton Head this week. 1,000 more may be on way
There’s photographic proof that migrating great white sharks have arrived this week in the waters off Hilton Head Island.
Charter captain Chip Michalove, known as the great white shark whisperer for his work catching, tagging and releasing the massive beasts each winter, hooked two great whites on Monday evening. He photographed one alongside his boat just before it was freed.
The two sharks, both over 11 feet long, were caught within 45 minutes of each other.
“I’m looking for one fish a day,” Michalove said of his expectations when he goes out on the water. Though there have been occasions where he hooked multiple great whites on the same day — in January 2019 he caught seven over an eight-hour period — seeing two within such a short time frame made for a special trip.
Michalove, of Outcast Sport Fishing, was with two other fishermen a few miles off the coast of Hilton Head when they made the catches.
“It was so calm out (that) the water and sky seemed to blend together,” he said. “We could have water skied after we caught them ... if we were lunatics.”
The season is getting a bit of a late start. Great whites usually start to show up in the warm water off Hilton Head in early December, but Michalove said he hasn’t seen as many as typically expected.
Cape Cod had a warmer than usual fall, so his theory is that the sharks didn’t start their migration south as early as they normally would.
When they do migrate, great whites cover a lot of territory fast.
“A lot of people have the misconception that they just like Hilton Head,” Michalove said. “They travel so much. The ones I caught could have been off Charleston the day before.”
He said great whites show up in great numbers off the coast of South Carolina, Georgia and northern Florida this time of year and stay through March before heading back to the New England coastline.
“At peak times we probably have over 1,000 off South Carolina,” Michalove said.
Scientists are able to track great white sharks and learn more about where they spend their time because of tags placed on them when they are caught. Michalove specifically works with researchers from the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy in Chatham, Mass.
Poor weather and other work may keep Michalove from shark fishing for the next week, but he said he’ll be thinking about Monday’s trip for quite a while.
“It was a beautiful day on the water,” he said, “one of those days, you know, if you are asked if you could replay one day the rest of your life, Monday might be the day.”
This story was originally published December 31, 2020 at 4:30 AM.
