The Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium scientists have reported that they have found a sand tiger shark nursery just off the shore of Long Island’s Great South Bay. Nursery for tiger sharks is an area where juvenile sand tiger sharks aggregate.

Basically, sand tiger sharks belong to the South around the Carolinas, but during their maturing years they make a move to north to nursery sites, which is why they have been found in New York. In terms of composition, sand tiger sharks have ferocious teeth and an imposing appearance, but are unexpectedly quiet.

Adult sharks can become more than 10 feet long where as size of juvenile sharks range from 9 inches to 4 feet.

While speaking to LiveScience about why the New York location has become a hotspot, vice president and director of the aquarium, Jon Dohlin, said, “The nursery is so close to shore waters that the heavy traffic could be keeping away the shark’s predators. This habitat must provide food sources as well as protection from their predators.

And that could be the reason why Sharks get attracted towards this spot. Usually, sharks stay at the nursery for 3 or 4 years and then after growing to a certain size, they join their migratory lifestyle.

Dohlin and his team haven’t revealed the exact location of the site considering the fact that the species is endangered, and revelation of location could attract commercialism.

Dohlin told LiveScience that the location is a protected spot, due to which they have been quite cautious about specificity of what they are saying about the area’s location.

Evidence of the nursery was found as early as 2011 when a scientist got a photograph of a dead sand tiger shark. Scientists discovered it later on through anecdotal proof that people had been catching tiny sharks in the bay for so many years.