Why a shark ‘invasion’ may forecast hurricanes weeks ahead

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Sharks may be more useful than meteorologists when it comes to long-term hurricane forecasting, experts say — and the clues can be found in their migration patterns.

Like dogs and birds before a thunderstorm, sharks who smell trouble will typically move en masse into deeper waters weeks in advance, observers note.

One nautical whiz, a fishing captain from Galveston, Tex., says he was able to predict three major hurricanes — including Ike, in 2008 — by observing eccentric and group behavior exhibited by the apex predator ahead of time.

Speaking to his hometown paper, Captain Mike Williams recounted the “invasion of bull sharks” he observed in his usual fishing channel back in 2008.

Seeing them repeatedly “stage up” in the area led Williams to warn the fishing community in 2008, “I think we have a hurricane coming.”

For three weeks, he was mostly ignored — and then Hurricane Ike devastated the Houston-Galveston area.

Sounds like they should have listened, according to Tobey Curtis, Gloucester, Mass.-based fishery management specialist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Last year, sharks off the shores of town — where the so-called “Perfect Storm” occured in 1991 — were fitted by the NOAA with micro readers to assess changes in water conditions. The findings were impressive.

“They have the capability to capture these oceanographic data that can inform hurricane models, which is really cool,” Curtis said.

In 2017 when Hurricane Irma hit Florida, sharks were paired with acoustic readers to get a better sense of the situation.

Again bull sharks, along with nurses and great hammerheads, all retreated from the local Biscayne Bay to deeper waters when the storm made landfall.

Marine biologist Mike Heithaus told KEYE TV in Austin, Texas that tiger sharks in The Bahamas also, subtly “slide out” to the deep when storms are approaching.

Recent research revealed that some sharks prefer to be in more shallow and warmer waters — giving credit to the idea that the brinier deeps may be a refuge of last resort for the creatures.

This year, 13 hurricanes and 25 tropical storms have already been predicted.