James is back; so is Jack. And so are a lot of their relatives and friends. So many great white sharks are swimming around Cape Cod that researchers have given them names. Turbo, pictured above, was spotted off Wellfleet. Sandy and Omar were both seen off Chatham. James and Jack were first seen off the Cape a year ago and are making a return visit this summer.
All told, the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy reports sightings of more than a dozen great whites at the start of the summer around Cape Cod. Five were reported on the first Monday of July, forcing Meadow Beach to be closed. Other sightings were reported from Chatham, on the southern tip of the Cape, to Provincetown, at the tip (where three were reported on just one day). One great white was sighted farther from the coast, closer to the Cape Cod Bay side of the peninsula; sharks usually are found on the ocean side of the Cape. And people at Nauset North Beach in Orleans say they saw a great white feeding on a seal just off the beach.
There have been only three shark attacks in Massachusetts since 2000, and none of them were fatal. The last fatal shark attack in the state was in 1936.
You can follow the sightings on Sharktivity, the Conservancy’s map, designed by a team of Cape Cod officials and wildlife researchers. And you can download Sharktivity as an app; just click at the Atlantic White Shark link below:
http://www.atlanticwhiteshark.org/sharktivity-map/
https://www.necn.com/multimedia/Great-White-Sharks-Return-to-Cape-Cod-485682051.html
