Great white shark was spotted off Chatham on Sunday

The sighting occurred at around 4 p.m., according to Bill Chaprales, a fisherman who works with Breen on scientific research and spoke with him after the sighting.

Chaprales, who also uses his tuna boat for marine research with the Division of Marine Fisheries, said the shark was said to be around 15 feet in length.

“I’ve been a commercial fisher for over 40 years, and I only saw three until last year,” Chaprales said, recalling last summer when he tagged five great whites in two days.

“We think that the higher number of white sharks sightings … may be related to the growing seal population in that area,” Skomal said.

While not sure of the reason behind more seals in the area, Skomal said the Division of Marine Fisheries plans to delve further into the possible relativity between local seals and great white shark sightings.

“This area’s becoming a hot spot for sharks,” Chaprales said. “We’re going to be doing a lot of science work with Greg Skomal. … We’re going to try and learn what these sharks are doing here and what they are about.”

There have been other reports of shark sightings this summer from boaters, but unlike these, Sunday’s was a confirmed sighting by a professional, Smith said. He encouraged beachgoers and boaters to be aware of the possibility of aggressive sharks close inland.

The possible closure of certain beaches is “something we’re going to continue to evaluate,” Smith said.