Scientists, Tourists Flock to Cape Cod to Spot, Study Great White Sharks
As the film classic “Jaws” celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, the waters around Cape Cod continue to attract scientists and tourists to the region to study great white sharks….
GANSBAAI, SOUTH AFRICA – OCTOBER 19: A Great White Shark is attracted by a lure on the ‘Shark Lady Adventure Tour’ on October 19, 2009 in Gansbaai, South Africa. The lure, usually a tuna head, is attached to a buoy and thrown into the water in front of the cage with the divers. The waters off Gansbaai are the best place in the world to see Great White Sharks, due to the abundance of prey such as seals and penguins which live and breed on Dyer Island, which lies 8km from the mainland. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
As the film classic "Jaws" celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, the waters around Cape Cod continue to attract scientists and tourists to the region to study great white sharks.
Each year, hundreds of great white sharks gather in the North Atlantic to feed from May through October, attracting people who want to get a look at these creatures up close.
“The number one reason people visit Cape Cod is because of outdoor recreation. Part of that experience these days is the recognition that sharks are here,” said Paul Niedzwiecki, CEO of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, in an interview with Forbes.
New England's density of great white sharks is a testament to the efforts of animal conservationists to save these creatures. According to research published in 2023 in the Marine Ecology Progress Series, scientists estimate that approximately 800 great white sharks were present in the waters surrounding Cape Cod from 2015 to 2018. This figure represents nearly three times the number of great white sharks estimated off California's central coast.
With the increasing presence of great white sharks in the waters off New England, concerns about shark safety persist. Digital resources, such as the Sharktivity App, which has been downloaded 500,000 times, enable individuals to upload photos of great white shark sightings, which scientists can then verify. According to the app, four great white sharks have been spotted around Cape Cod since May 11.
Several tourism enterprises on Cape Cod now offer boat trips to view white sharks on the water. The trips aren't cheap — they're approximately $2,000 per excursion, according to Forbes. To help bring the boats to the sharks, tour providers use spotter planes to detect the sharks in the water. The practice is a more eco-responsible way for tourists to witness sharks, compared to cage diving or baiting them. Massachusetts bans both of these practices.
