It’s been a busy week for Great White Shark sightings and research. A Great White dubbed “Montauk” (pictured above) was spotted off the coast of Connecticut in the Long Island Sound at the end of September. Montauk’s tracker “pinged” after breaking the surface of the water. It marked the first time a Great White was tracked into the Sound, however, it does not mean it’s the first time a Great White traveled into the Sound. Since then, researchers have discovered a Great White Shark nursery off Long Island. OCEARCH, a privately funded research group, has confirmed the nine newborn sharks they tagged have remained in the area. This confirms its theory that Great White Sharks spend the first year of their life in the waters off Long Island. In fact, the waters from Cape Cod to New Jersey have been considered part of the Great White Shark nursery as well. Newborn sharks, which are around 5-feet-long and about 50 pounds, flock to shallow coastal areas where they can easily catch prey and avoid older sharks. Researchers are even beginning to question if the waters off Long Island are also where Great Whites mate and give birth. However groundbreaking this research is, the east coast of the United States isn’t the only place seeing an abundance of shark activity. 
Lennox Head, New South Wales in Australia has reported spotting sharks in the shallows off the coast. A Great White was spotted at the beginning of the month in the same area where a surfer was previously attacked. In addition to this most recent spotting, the New South Wales government has reported many other shark sightings in the last month, and has shared the helicopter views on its Twitter page. 
The images are enough to keep any and all swimmers from the water for awhile. The photos include shark sightings at other beaches in addition to Lennox Head, making it seem quite dangerous to be in Australian waters. You can clearly see these sharks are swimming in shallow water near where swimmers and surfers would normally be. Now that we know the waters off Long Island are considered a Great White nursery, and may even be mating grounds, it's a safe bet people will be thinking twice about going into the shallows. READ NEXT: 25 Facts You Didn't Know About The Movie 'Jaws'