The Return of Great White Sharks to Cape Cod: A Success Story or a Problem?

Cape Cod, a popular tourist destination in Massachusetts, is known for its scenic beaches, quaint towns, and rich history. But in recent years, it has also become known for something else: great white sharks.

A new study has revealed that about 800 individual great white sharks visited Cape Cod from 2015 to 2018, making it one of the largest white shark hotspots in the world and the first ever in the North Atlantic.

Why are great white sharks attracted to Cape Cod?

(Photo : Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

The main reason why great white sharks are flocking to Cape Cod is food. The sharks are following their favorite prey: gray seals.

Gray seals are large marine mammals that can weigh up to 800 pounds and consume up to 10 pounds of fish per day, as per Phys.org.

They are also protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, which prohibits hunting, killing, or harassing them.

Gray seals were once abundant along the coast of New England, but they were nearly wiped out by hunting and culling by commercial fishers until the early 1960s.

They began to recover in the 1990s when they established pupping colonies on Cape Cod and nearby islands.

Today, there are an estimated 50,000 gray seals in the region, providing a plentiful and predictable food source for great white sharks.

Great white sharks are apex predators that can grow up to 20 feet long and weigh up to 4,000 pounds. They have powerful jaws and teeth that can tear through flesh and bone.

They can also detect the electric fields generated by living animals using special organs called ampullae of Lorenzini. They use these senses to locate and ambush their prey, often delivering a single fatal bite.

Great white sharks are highly migratory and can travel thousands of miles across oceans. They have been tracked from Cape Cod to Florida, Bermuda, and even the Azores.

They typically visit Cape Cod from June to October, when the water temperature is warmer and the seal population is higher.

They tend to hunt along the eastern shoreline of Cape Cod, where the water is shallow and clear, and where seals congregate on sandbars and beaches.

Also Read: Great White Sharks Show Color-Changing Ability to Camouflage

How are great white sharks affecting public safety and conservation?

The presence of great white sharks on Cape Cod poses a challenge to public safety and conservation.

On one hand, the sharks pose a potential threat to human life and recreation. On the other, sharks are vulnerable to human activities and need protection themselves, as per Boston Herald.

The risk of a shark attack on Cape Cod is low but not zero. Since 2012, there have been three shark attacks on humans on Cape Cod, one of them fatal.

The victims were either swimming or surfing near seal colonies or in murky water. The attacks prompted a state of emergency and a massive public safety campaign by local authorities and organizations.

Some of the measures taken to prevent shark attacks include:

Installing warning signs, flags, and buoys at beaches
Providing first aid kits, tourniquets, and emergency phones at beaches
Training lifeguards, beach staff, and emergency responders on how to deal with shark incidents
Educating beachgoers on how to avoid shark encounters and what to do in case of an attack
Developing an app called Sharktivity that alerts users of shark sightings and activity
Implementing acoustic tags and receivers that track shark movements and behavior
Conducting aerial surveys and drone patrols that monitor shark presence and activity

Maintaining ecosystem balance

The conservation of great white sharks on Cape Cod is also important for maintaining the balance of nature and supporting scientific research.

Great white sharks are apex predators that play a key role in regulating the marine ecosystem. They help control the population and behavior of their prey species, such as seals, fish, and other sharks. They also provide ecological services, such as scavenging dead animals and recycling nutrients.

Great white sharks are also endangered species that face many threats from human activities, such as fishing, pollution, habitat loss, and climate change.

They are protected by federal and state laws that prohibit killing or harming them. They are also valuable subjects for scientific research that can improve our understanding of biology, ecology, evolution, and behavior.