Are there sharks in massachusetts

Recently, white sharks have been spotted as close as 10 feet from the shore near Provincetown on Cape Cod. All summer long, beaches in Massachusetts towns, including Wellfleet and Truro, have frequently had to close temporarily because of white shark sightings, a now-common occurrence. But even though white shark sightings have been steadily increasing for years, this summer in New England was different.

Maine, long considered to be too far north to attract white sharks, recorded its first fatal shark attack in July , when Julie Holowach of New York was killed by a shark while swimming off Bailey Island in Casco Bay. She was wearing a dark wetsuit, which may have caused the shark to mistake her for a seal. Now, beachgoers along the New England coastlines are wondering if white sharks are lurking everywhere, not just off Cape Cod beaches.

Images of a white shark off Race Point Beach in Provincetown over the weekend. This is a good example and reminder of how close to shore white sharks can get. Photo credit: Kulis Cup friends and family pic. Although Lobel says white sharks have always gone as far north as Maine, their presence is now becoming more obvious as years of conservation efforts have caused them to multiply. Decades ago, the number of white sharks in the Atlantic Ocean dwindled from fishing and hunting, but the population has been increasing since , when the National Marine Fisheries Service banned the killing of marine animals.

Last year, shark researchers tagged more white sharks off the New England coast than ever before , making it a landmark year for marine conservation success. He says that sharks will go wherever there is abundant prey for them to eat. Seals, which have been protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act since , tend to aggregate in large colonies on rocky coasts, drawing white sharks in search of food close to the shore.

Some fishermen are not pleased with the rebound in seals, since they are thought to compete for many of the same fresh catches, like haddock and fluke, as fisherman do. And according to Skomal and Lobel, seals are known to sometimes eat fish straight off of fishing lines or break into lobster pots. Although it does happen, as it did this summer, white sharks attacking and killing a swimmer is very rare.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, there were 64 unprovoked shark bites worldwide in , 41 of those attacks occurring in the United States.

Since , there have been five shark attacks on Cape Cod. One of them was fatal, when Massachusetts surfer Arthur Medici was killed by a shark in Suzanne Bagnera , a BU School of Hospitality Administration clinical assistant professor, worked in the hotel industry with InterContinental Hotels Group for a number of years, and she points out that the Cape is a great example of how towns and the hospitality industry can educate tourists and residents to be shark smart.

Towns have tried improving WiFi on remote beaches so shark sightings can be rapidly reported, and in Skomal helped launch Sharktivity , a white shark tracking app run by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy. The increasing abundance of white sharks and new technologies to study them has helped Lobel, Skomal, and other researchers make new discoveries about this complex species that has roamed the seas for nearly million years.

July 28 - A shark was spotted on a research trip. Nauset Beach July 1 - A shark was spotted about 50 yards offshore. July 5 - There was a confirmed shark predation about 35 meters from the public beach. Swimming was closed at a. July 6 - Sharks were spotted off Nauset Beach by visitors at a. July 6 - There was a confirmed sighting of a white shark by a lifeguard at p. July 8 - A previously tagged white shark named Alex was spotted. July 13 - A white shark was confirmed about 50 yards off shore.

July 16 - A previously tagged white shark named Snowflake was detected. July 17 - A white shark predation was observed by the Orleans Resources Office. July 19 - A photo showing shadow of a shark in the water was posted. July 21 - A white shark was spotted and swimming was closed at p. July 26 - A white shark was confirmed about yards offshore. July 27 - A white shark was spotted 50 yards off the head lifeguard stand at Nauset Beach at p.

July 29 - A white shark was confirmed about 50 yards off the head lifeguard stand. Water closed as p. A sign warns visitors at Nauset Beach in Orleans about sharks. Aug 3 - A white shark was spotted a half mile south of Nauset Beach. Swimming was closed at p. Aug 11 - A white shark was spotted 15 yards off shore in front of northern lifeguard stand. Swimming was closed at 10 a.

Swimming was closed from a. Swimming was closed from to p. The shark was spotted north of Trail 3. Related Content:. Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission. All rights reserved About Us. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.

Six of the 10 tagged sharks were juvenile great whites. The group has tagged 83 animals overall in its Northwest Atlantic White Shark Study, just 17 away from their goal of tagged and sampled sharks. A dead seal that appeared to have been fed on by a shark also washed up on a beach in Chatham on Wednesday. He said "multiple sharks" were spotted off Cape Cod on Thursday, including one that was hunting a Bluefin tuna. As we head into another weekend, here's your reminder that white sharks are back.

Multiple sharks were spotted yesterday off the Cape so please, be SharkSmart and review shark safety recommendations before heading to the beach.

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