Rise in Shark Sightings Along the East Coast due to Increased Human Presence

Shark sightings have been increasing along the East Coast in the past few decades. The rise of the sightings as documented by Discovery Channel's annual Shark Week, isn't due to the increase in its population but because of people trying to get too close to them, experts say.

George Burgess, a Florida researcher and curator of the International Shark Attack File told USA Today, that people are spending more time in the water now than they did a few decades back.

"More people are entering the sea and putting themselves in the water closer to where the sharks are," Burgess said. "As a result, there are more eyes where the sharks are and a lot more people looking for sharks."

The International Shark Attack File keeps a record of shark-human interaction. According to the data, there were about 80 cases of unprovoked shark-attacks in the year 2012, which was higher than 78 such attacks recorded in 2011.

One species of sharks, the great hammerhead, has started paying more visits to the East coast now than before even though they are known to stay away from shorelines.

According to Burgess, humans have destroyed sharks habitats and fueled depletion of their primary food source which is why the sharks follow shipping boats to the coast to get some fish.

Shark-sightings along the coast of Massachusetts have increased largely due to rise of seal population in the region, Greg Skomal, a shark specialist at the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries told USA Today. A legislation passed in the 1970s led to the rise in seal population in the region.