With great white sharks back chomping on seals off the Cape, shark researchers are urging beachgoers and people out on the water to report apex predator sightings and to be aware of their surroundings ahead of Memorial Day weekend.
The first confirmed white shark sighting of the season was reported over the weekend, when a 12-foot white shark was spotted devouring a seal off of Provincetown.
This is the time of year when white sharks return to the waters off of Massachusetts, where the animals hunt seals into the fall months. With Memorial Day weekend coming up, New England Aquarium scientists on Monday reminded people to be “Shark Smart.”
“Though white shark bites on humans are rare, the sighting serves as a reminder to beachgoers and boaters to be mindful of the presence of these ocean animals,” said John Chisholm, adjunct scientist in the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life.
“It’s important to be aware of sharks’ presence in shallow waters, to avoid areas where seals are present or schools of fish are visible, and to stay close to shore where rescuers can reach you if needed,” he added.
As part of the partnership between the New England Aquarium and Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, Chisholm serves as the citizen science coordinator for the Conservancy — documenting accounts of shark-seal interactions and verifying shark sighting reports made by the public through the Sharktivity app.
Sharktivity provides information and push notifications on white shark sightings, detections, and movements to raise awareness about sharks’ locations along the coast. Researchers, safety officials, and others upload photos and videos of sharks, crowdsourcing data on where sharks are spotted.
“There is a real public concern around beach safety, and we recognize the need to respond to that,” said Nick Whitney, senior scientist at the Aquarium and chair of the Anderson Cabot Center’s Fisheries Science and Emerging Technologies program.
“That’s why we’re excited to continue this partnership with the Conservancy to help provide accurate, timely information on shark sightings in the region,” Whitney added.
The New England Aquarium has a team of nine scientists who study shark species, from porbeagles and nurse sharks to sandbar and sand tiger sharks. Many shark species reside in Massachusetts waters.
Aquarium researchers’ work focuses on monitoring these animals using innovative tagging technologies — including satellite, acoustic, accelerometer, and camera tags to track the sharks’ habitat use, life history, and impacts of bycatch during commercial and recreational fishing activities.