Our apex predator sea friends apparently love to stick around for the changing colorful trees and for spooky season.
No, those weren’t ghost sharks and zombie sharks being spotted close to shore along Cape Cod during this first week of October.
Several reports of great white sharks lit up the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s Sharktivity app — with many of the shark sightings off of Chatham, with other spottings along Orleans and Eastham. White shark activity off the Cape remains at its peak through October, according to recent history.
“50 ft from beach moving south tight to shore,” reads a Chatham shark sighting this week on the Sharktivity app.
“Approximately 10 feet tagged, one other was sighted at the same time in the same area by the pilot,” another sighting reads.
Many of the reports were along Chatham’s Monomoy Island, a hotbed for shark activity as the apex predators hunt for seals close to shore.
“Approximately 11 to 12 feet with a 6 to 8 inch open wound just ahead of the left side of the dorsal fin,” the Sharktivity post reads. “Looks like it might be from a motor skeg.”
October has been the third busiest month for shark activity along the Cape in recent years.
Last year, August had the most shark detections at receivers, according to the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s Logbook.
There were 66,097 detections of tagged sharks in August last year, followed by September in second place with 47,177 detections and October in third place with 32,409 detections.
The Cape isn’t the only region with great white sharks this time of year. Sharks also patrol the waters of northern New England throughout early autumn.
“Looks like I’m not the only one checking out the fall foliage in Maine,” posted MA Sharks, which is run by local shark researcher John Chisholm, who confirms sightings for the Sharktivity app. “Tagged White Shark ‘Punk’ just pinged the real-time receiver off Old Orchard Beach.
“This a good reminder that it is still shark season and with the unseasonably warm weather water users need to be #SharkSmart and remain vigilant!” Chisholm added. “If you see a shark remember to report it on the #Sharktivity app.”
Tagging data from the real-time receivers, which are deployed for research purposes, are integrated into the Sharktivity app to raise awareness of the presence of white sharks off the coast.
