Shark Season: Great White Sharks Swarm Cape Cod
Great white sharks love to eat seals. They also like warm waters. Cape Cod has plenty of both and sharks are swarming the area. Cape Cod has a large seal population that just calls to the great white sharks. So towns are gearing up for this year’s shark season.
Forty years ago, the movie Jaws debuted. It was about a rogue great white shark off the coast of Cape Cod. The funny thing was, back then, great whites were not frequent visitors of the Cape. Tiger and mako sharks were there but no many great whites. Fast forward until today, and the number of great whites has risen so much that they are now a tourist attraction.
Great white #sharks swarm #CapeCod as Government act keeps predators well fed http://t.co/8gl693eSzX @Shark_Katharine pic.twitter.com/SJNAlE9ZJ2
— OCEARCH (@OCEARCH) June 21, 2015
According to The Beast, Dr. Greg Skomal, a senior biologist with the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries department, notes that the Massachusetts town of Chatham has fully embraced the great white sharks.
“If anything I’ve noticed, among the business community of the town of Chatham, which is the epicenter of white shark activity, they’ve embraced these animals as a way to make money and draw people to the town.”
Skomal, along with other scientists, have been keeping tack of the great white population around Cape Cod for years. And their findings show only one thing for this year: growth. But why are great white sharks coming in such numbers to the Cape?
The answer is because there are more seals than ever. Skomal explains why the seal population is drawing the swarm of great white sharks.
“The growing seal population is a result of the Marine Mammal Protection Act from 1972. The seals are now rebounding, recolonizing, and becoming resident in many parts of the northeast where they previously had been wiped out. White sharks are the top predator of seals, one of their only predators, and is responding to that.”
Cape Cod beaches are now an all you can eat feast for the sharks.
Great white sharks are big. They can reach length of up to 20-feet, but it is rare. One fisherman regrets having caught such a beast as the creature was the stuff of legends.
Beach goers can still swim in the waters if they so choose. Though, they are advised no to go looking for a great white. Swimmers are also cautioned against going into the waters at dusk or dawn. The buddy system is recommended as is staying close to shore.
Just be warned, visitors of Cape Cod, there are great white sharks in the water.
[Image via Dan Kitwood/Getty Images]
