Cape Cod Is One Of The Most Popular Places In The World For Sharks

We love to summer on the Cape. But we aren't alone. Clearly, in the past couple of decades sharks have made Cape Cod their hot summer spot. What's up with that? The answer is likely seals. Lots and lots of seals. According to a new study, Cape Cod is one of the most popular places in the world for sharks.

Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, the state fisheries division and UMass Dartmouth determined what we all could sense: The Cape is the summer destination for sharks in the United States. The study, as reported in boston.com, revealed that about 800 white sharks have "summered" off Cape Cod in the period between 2015 and 2018. And this is the very first evaluation of "white shark abundance in the western North Atlantic Ocean." (boston.com)

Why is Cape Cod one of the most popular places in the world for sharks? According to over 2,800 videos from 137 research trips tracking he sharks, it's not just about the seals. The population of white sharks is increasing every year. But hey, the sharks are just doing their job of feeding in waters abundant with seals. One expert said this is good. It's shows a restoration of an ecosystem. Good if you're a shark, I guess.

People are encouraged to download the Sharktivity app, in order to track what beaches are seeing sharks at any given time. The app tells you which beaches are shut down due to shark sightings. It tracks researches and visitors sightings in New England,

It is officially shark sighting season on these Massachusetts Beaches! The weather and water are getting warmer and people are starting to run toward the beach. This allows for more shark sightings and God forbid, more shark attacks.

In fact, a whale-watching cruise out of Provincetown officially captured the first shark sighting of the season 30 miles from Boston Harbor on Sunday. With this first shark sighting, experts are now warning people this is the time to start looking out for sharks when you're visiting beaches. 

There are ways you can actually track shark sightings. One being a company called The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy. There's also an app called "Sharktivity" where people can report actual shark sightings. You can see how many sightings there have been in the past month, past week and past year. Before we warn you of the beaches where you're more likely to get attacked by a shark, let's look at how you can avoid it all together. 

Stay close to shore. Play in the water in larger groups. Limit your splashing. Don't swim near schools of fish or seals. As long as you adhere to these "rules" of the water, your chances of being attacked by a shark go way down.

Shark sightings typically occur from mid-May into October when sharks visit the shorelines looking for food, aka seals. Chances of getting killed by a shark are very low although there have been two people killed since 2018. There have been more shark bites however which can lead to hospitalizations. 

So which beaches in Massachusetts are more prone to shark attacks? We've taken a look at analysis over the past 5 years and put together this list of the most shark infested beaches in the state. If you dare take a trip to any of these this summer, take extra precautions. Enjoy!

In 2019 there were 5 shark sightings here. It is consistently a popular beach for sharks to be seen although the amount of actual sharks seen here is quite low.

https://www.weneedavacation.com/Beach/High-Head-Truro/

Ballston Beach reported some shark sightings back in 2019 and is consistently an area of the Cape that sharks are seen. There were 6 sightings in 2019.

https://www.masslive.com/capecod/2019/07/ballston-beach-in-truro-to-reopen-after-great-white-shark-spotted-tuesday-morning.html

There were 7 shark sightings at Marconi Beach back in 2019 with more consistent sightings ever since.

https://www.wcvb.com/article/shark-sighting-confirmed-off-marconi-beach-in-wellfleet/28263815#:~:text=There%20was%20a%20confirmed%20sighting,seen%20in%20Cape%20Cod%20Bay.

There were 8 shark sightings back in 2019 and you can continue monitoring shark activity by using the "Sharktivity" app.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/sharks-cape-cod-trnd/index.html#:~:text=Longnook%20Beach%20in%20Truro%2C%20Massachusetts,close%20to%20shore%2C%20police%20said.&text=Sharks%20are%20pretty%20frequent%20vacationers,two%20days%20before%20this%20sighting.

There were 10 shark sightings back in 2019. Consistent shark sightings have been seen here based on the "Sharktivity" app.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/sharks-cape-cod-trnd/index.html#:~:text=Longnook%20Beach%20in%20Truro%2C%20Massachusetts,close%20to%20shore%2C%20police%20said.&text=Sharks%20are%20pretty%20frequent%20vacationers,two%20days%20before%20this%20sighting.

There were 12 sharks spotted here back in 2019. More were spotted as early as last year.

https://www.masslive.com/news/2022/08/cape-cod-shark-sighting-race-point-beach-temporarily-closed-when-shark-swims-close-to-shore.html

There were 12 sharks spotted here in 2019.

https://www.coastalneighborhoods.com/aunt-lydias-cove-chatham/

There were 13 sightings here in 2019. This included footage from a man who had gotten killed.

There were 16 shark sightings here in 2019. This beach is consistently boasting sightings of sharks including this one from 2022.

https://www.bostonherald.com/2022/06/28/cape-shark-sighting-closes-head-of-the-meadow-beach-to-swimming/#:~:text=June%2028%2C%202022%20at%201,White%20Shark%20Conservancy's%20Sharktivity%20app.

A whopping 27 sharks were spotted here in 2019.

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/shark-sightings-off-us-state-a-boon-for-tourism-591905

43 sharks were seen here in 2019! There were five seen in ONE day last year.

https://www.wcvb.com/article/5-shark-sightings-reported-in-one-day-off-coast-of-popular-cape-cod-beach/40572343#:~:text=ORLEANS%2C%20Mass.%20%E2%80%94,mid%2Dto%2Dlate%20morning.