The next time you go to Cape Cod, you may want to stay on your boat. New studies show that great white sharks spend half their time there swimming in water less than 15 feet deep, hunting for seals to eat. That behavior, of course, puts them in the same water as human swimmers and surfers.
And the number of sharks swimming in those waters is staggering. A research buoy close to shore off North Truro detected 70 individual sharks last summer. One off Nauset Beach in Orleans recorded 69; Eastham, 62.
The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, a non-profit organization in Chatham, has been working on a population study of great whites, trying to get an estimate of how many come to the Cape each spring. The Conservancy also coordinates with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.
According to the Cape Cod Times, this summer the Conservancy will have 100 research buoys around Cape Cod and stretching up to Cape Ann; most of them will be within a quarter mile of the beach.
Last year, the top ten buoys around Cape Cod reported an average of 61 individual sharks, and more than 7,000 detections. These numbers are significantly higher than what the buoys found in 2015, when most detected 20 sharks or fewer.
Now researchers are reviewing data from satellite pop-up tags on the sharks showing that they are moving closer to shore in their search for food. They also are reviewing 3-D mapping of the sea floor, combining it with reports from the listening buoys to plot the sharks’ position.
Meanwhile, the Conservancy says swimmers should avoid deep water, particularly the drop-off on the edge of sandbars. One scientist, Bryan Legare, says people should “only go in waist deep and don’t swim near seals.” Read more:
