Field research will be conducted this summer to study why a certain species of sharks have arrived in this region.
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the MIT Joint Program will spearhead the project to determine what is bringing whale sharks to the region.
The filter-feeding species is the largest, with males averaging 25 feet in length, females nearly twice as long.
They generally inhabit warm, tropical waters, but numerous reports confirm their presence further north.
The aim is to tag and track the sharks, and find out more about their feeding and migration patterns.
(Photo credit SCOTT TUASON/AFP via Getty Images)
Photo: AFP / AFP / Getty Images