Local News

There was a bevy of shark sightings at the Cape over the weekend, according to the Sharktivity app

Nauset Beach is known for its great white shark sightings, with the predators often spotted hunting seals close to shore.

Signs like this one at Nauset Beach on Cape Cod warn beach-goers about sharks. If you see seals in the water, get out — seals are shark food. You don’t want to end up in danger due to a case of mistaken identity. Diane Bair

By Heather Alterisio

July 11, 2022

The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy‘s Sharktivity app was buzzing this weekend with multiple white shark sightings, primarily in the area of Nauset Beach off of the Cape.

The popular beach is known for its great white shark sightings, with the predators often spotted hunting seals close to shore.

Cape & sharks:

There were two confirmed sightings Saturday shortly before 11 a.m., and five confirmed sightings Sunday between 9:43 a.m. and 1:48 p.m., with the latter sighting taking place about 100 yards off shore.

One shark known to researchers as Mr. Spot Claw was detected at the public beach Saturday at 10:15 a.m., according to the app. Another known white shark was detected at 1:05 p.m. Both detections were followed with heightened swimming advisories, but Nauset Beach remained open.

Also on Saturday, there were confirmed white shark sightings off the south end of North Beach Island in Chatham at 9:40 a.m. and 9:55 a.m. Both reports described the shark as approximately 10 feet in length.

There was also a confirmed shark sighting Saturday night along Plymouth Long Beach. Someone reported seeing a triangular fin in the water near the swimming area, according to Sharktivity. Harbormaster and Long Beach staff later checked the area to confirm the report.

In a press briefing last month, Gregory Skomal of the state Division of Marine Fisheries explained the shark sightings along the Cape and discussed what people should keep in mind when determining risk factors.

“We’ve said it a hundred times: the chances of you dying in your car are so much higher than being bit by a white shark, so keep it in relative perspective, in terms of the risk,” Skomal said, as reported by The Boston Globe.

“But if you are a person who says, ‘You know what, I don’t want to take that risk of being bitten by a shark.’ Well, where’s that most likely to happen? Along the outer Cape, parts of Cape Cod Bay, particularly the eastern side of Cape Cod Bay during peak season,” he said.

Over the Fourth of July weekend, a Cape Cod woman recorded the moment a shark devoured a seal near the shore of Nauset Outer Beach in Orleans.