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Two Great White Sharks Spotted Off Chatham Coast

By Dustin Wicksell
Published on: 08:29 PST, Sep 17, 2014

Two great white sharks were spotted Tuesday off the coast of Chatham, Massachusetts, according to researchers who pursued them.

Greg Skomal, a shark expert who works with the state Division of Marine Fisheries, was able to identify and tag the great whites, according to The Boston Globe. Wayne Davis, a spotter pilot with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, photographed Skomal’s team from the air as they went after the great whites.

The team spotted several other sharks, counting at least 10 between the Chatham Inlet and Shark Cove, according to a post on the Conservancy’s Facebook page. The two white sharks represent the ninth and tenth great whites to be tagged by the marine fisheries division off the Massachusetts coast in 2014.

“They’re here every year,” Skomal pointed out, saying “We’ve been [tagging them] since 2009.”

Great whites have indeed been plentiful off the Massachusetts coast this year, as The Inquisitr has noted. Earlier this month, two women kayaking off Manomet Point in Plymouth were thrown from their boats after a white shark struck at them. The animal was known to be in the area and had previously been observed feeding on seals, prompting the women to go in search of it.

In late August, another great white shark was spotted off Chatham, startling frightened boaters, who recorded video of the animal along with their terrified reaction. The great white had been caught in a channel off South Beach during low tide, but was eventually able to escape. The White Shark Conservancy pursued, and were able to tag, that particular shark. They also released video of the predator, filmed as it was tagged.

As the Atlantic white shark population has rebounded in recent years, they have been increasingly drawn to the Massachusetts coastline by seal colonies, which represent plentiful and easy prey. During this past summer, the high number of white shark sightings led to a tourism boom. Beachgoers have little reason to be frightened, however, as Dr. Skomal related to Boston.com.

“What we can do is go back to the statistics, and the statistics are weak for white shark attacks in Massachusetts,” he said.

[Image via Atlantic White Shark Conservancy]

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