Cape Cod Great White sharks are closer than you think

There's that moment in Jaws where Matt Hooper comes round Chief Brody's house and they talk about sharks, which works as clever exposition about how most shark attacks happen in shallow water.

Brody : Is it true that most people get attacked by sharks in three feet of water about ten feet from the beach?

Hooper : Yeah.

Well, now, it turns out that Great White sharks in New England spend half their time in shallow water. That doesn't mean we should be alarmed, it's their territory after all, but it is something that people in the ocean need to be more aware of.

The results are part of a new study released by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy showing that Great Whites spent almost half their time in the shallows, in less than 15 feet of water.

Cynthia Wigren, the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s CEO, said that the results should make people be more cautious and aware when swimming in the shallows.

She said: "It’s important to remember that the overall risk posed to humans by white sharks is low, but people should be aware that white sharks are present along Cape Cod’s beaches during the summer and fall and proactively modify their behavior to reduce their risk."

We have to remember that global shark attacks remain low, and we can all help keep that low by mitigating the risk of attack or shark interaction by heeding such evidence based warnings.

Read how shark attacks are down on a five year average, but how fatalities have shown a slight spike: International Shark Attack File 2020 Shows Encounters Down But Fatalities Up

Not that Cape Cod is a stranger to increased Great White shark activity over the last few years, but that doesn't mean that has to be a bad thing for tourism, or indeed sharks: Are You Going To Close The Beaches?

By Dean Newman 

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