Why are white sharks seen around the Farallon Islands National Wildlife Refuge during the fall? In the early 2000s, Point Blue collaborated with Stanford University’s Tagging of Pelagic Predators program and attached satellite tags to dozens of white sharks to answer this question.

We learned that white sharks migrate annually 1500 miles west to a region of ocean located between Hawaii and Baja California, which was recently nicknamed the White Shark Café. This region of ocean harbors is a complex food-chain, which might be attracting the sharks. However, it’s still unknown whether the sharks are here to find food or mates. The pinnipeds eaten at the Farallones fuel this critical migration stage of their annual life-cycle.