Each summer, great whites leave their winter homes around Florida and other southern states and head north to swim in the warm waters of the cape – and July sees a boom in sightings.
Scientists are warning visitors of the New England peninsula to be cautious when swimming in the bay. July is usually when great whites appear in masses as the cape's waters warm, with sightings peaking from August through October, Megan Winton, a scientist with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, said during a news conference at the organization's offices in Chatham on Wednesday.
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Megan Winton, a scientist with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, said during a news conference at the organization´s offices in Chatham on Wednesday: "Just know that large sharks are here,” she said.
"They're a constant presence from June to the fall (autumn)." However, the first great white sighting was reported on May 29 near Great Point on Nantucket and another followed just last week.
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Off Cape Experiences shared a video on their Instagram page showing a 15-foot-long shark swimming around the bay.
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Since 2009, researchers have tagged more than 280 great whites off the cape, with nearly 230 of those tags still active and sending back data about shark movements, according to the scientists.
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Greg Skomal, a state marine biologist who has been exploring the region's great whites for decades, said the animals still tend to be focused on the Atlantic Ocean-facing side of the cape, where they dine on a flourishing seal population.
He advised beachgoers to be most vigilant when swimming off beaches where the shoreline quickly drops into deeper waters.
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"Sharks will come close to the shore when they have water depth," Skomal said.
Since 2009, researchers have tagged more than 280 great whites off the cape, with nearly 230 of those tags still active and sending back data about shark movements, according to the scientists.
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Skomal and Winton have spent years studying white shark migration and hunting behavior, in an effort to increase beach safety.
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Tagging the predators lets the team understand better where the sharks are likely to make an arrival, as well as what times of the day they tend to be most active.
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Skomal says there's been a marked change in beachgoer behavior since the region saw two shark attacks on humans, one of them fatal, in 2018. Many are increasingly swimming closer to shore, with others not venturing into the waters at all, he said.
"It's a conservation success story in terms of sharks and seals," Ms. Winton said. “At the same time, this is an important place for people to recreate, so it's important to find ways to coexist."
A great white shark spotted at Head of the Meadow Beach in Truro has shut down the beach to swimming Tuesday afternoon. The quick beach closure is the first reported one of the summer on the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s Sharktivity app.
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