More than 30 great white sharks have been seen off the Massachusetts coast of Cape Cod in the last two days, prompting beach shutdowns.
As many as 14 sharks were spotted on 2 August and 16 were seen on 3 August, according to the Sharktivity app run by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.
Four great white sharks were seen near Chatham Harbor on Wednesday and a hammerhead shark was seen near the Nantucket coastline.
Hammerhead sharks weigh around a thousand pounds and they’re usually found in warmer waters.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in January of this year that a new study found that “tiger sharks are migrating into northern latitudes earlier and expanding their movements further north due to ocean warming. These changes leave them more vulnerable to fishing”.
Researchers found that the “large-scale northward expansion was driven by climate change”.
Figures from the International Shark Attack Files show that Hammerhead sharks have been behind 16 unprovoked attacks, while great white sharks have caused 354 and tiger sharks 138 unprovoked attacks since records began.
Boston.com reported that six different sharks were located by detection buoys eight times off Cape Cod.
Fourteen great white sharks were seen over a six-hour timespan near Cape Cod on 2 August.
Lifeguards on Martha’s Vineyard’s South Beach told Patch that a shark was only five to 10 yards away from the shoreline, prompting the beach to be shut down for two hours.
Similarly, Meadow Beach was closed for an hour following a shark sighting.
On 30 and 31 July, 23 sharks were spotted off the coast.
Shark biologist Dan Abel Coastal Carolina University told WSOC that sharks “go where there’s food. They go where they may mate, which may be an area we’re ignorant of”.
“They go where they may have their babies, and again, this is another area we’re not certain of; and those are sort of the reasons they migrate. To eat, mate, and to have babies”, he added.
There have been at least 30 attacks in the US so far this year, with some experts concerned that the figure could increase.
Tracking Sharks reported that 18 of the attacks have taken place in Florida.
Within three weeks, six attacks were registered in the waters off Long Island, New York, according to New York magazine.
