A Dozen Great White Sharks Spotted In The Past Week

by Tim Wood

CHATHAM --- State officials could not confirm that the shark in the dramatic photo taken off Nauset Beach on Saturday was a great white shark. In fact, it probably wasn't.

“Most likely it was a basking shark,” said Reginald Zimmerman, spokesman for the state division of marine fisheries. “They feed on plankton, so it's not really a concern.”

The photo of a kayaker warily eying the fin following in his wake was widely circulated, appearing on national TV news programs and websites. But while that kayaker might not have had any reason to worry, given that the big fish tailing him was harmless, recent sightings -- and two taggings this week -- have made it plain that there are plenty of great white sharks in the waters to the east of Chatham and the Outer Cape.

“I think this is going to be the new norm,” Harbormaster Stuart Smith commented Tuesday on the more than a dozen great white sharks spotted during the past week. Chatham's east facing beaches remain open to swimming as of Tuesday, although a ban on swimming within 300 feet of seals, the primary prey of the sharks, remains in effect.

On Monday, state researchers checked several receivers that monitor several sharks tagged last summer. Three receivers on buoys inside the harbor – one off Lighthouse Beach, another off Andrew Harding's Lane beach and a third east of Chatham Bars Inn – registered no hits, Smith said. But for receivers on buoys outside of the harbor, it was a different story.

“There were lots of hits on those,” he said. All of the hits, he added, came from the same two sharks which had registered the first confirmed white shark presence in the area in early June.

There has only been a single incident of a shark registering on a buoy near the swimming area, he said. That was on the red buoy off Lighthouse Beach on June 10.

The spotter pilot George Breen and the crew of the Ezyduzit, working under contract with the state, have spotted numerous white sharks in recent weeks. Just this week they tagged two great white sharks. According to their website, capecodsharkhunterse.com, a 16-foot shark was tagged Monday after being stalked for more than an hour. Smith said a second shark was tagged early Tuesday.

Breen spotted a total of five sharks Monday, including an 18-footer, according to the website. Smith said three more were spotted Tuesday, all in the area that's become known as “Shark Cove,” at the spot where South Beach and Monomoy join, which is heavily populated by gray seals.

“That seems to be the hotbed,” Smith said.

Breen also reported seeing three white sharks July 8 and two July 3 in the South Beach/Monomoy area. Sharks were also spotted June 28 and 30 and July 2. The sharks seen in June were north of the Chatham inlet.

Officials anticipate having to close Lighthouse Beach to swimming at some point due to the presence of sharks, just as they did last year, said Park and Recreation Director Dan Tobin. He noted that the receivers are only registering sharks that have been tagged, and it's clear there's more of them out there than just the handful with electronic monitors on their backs. Smith added that partially eaten seal carcasses continue to be found on a fairly regular basis.