A NewsCenter 5 viewer captured video of a shark attacking a seal near Race Point Beach in Provincetown on Wednesday afternoon. Researchers say they are looking for patterns in shark behavior and how they interact with seals, and plan to use that information to protect people. August, September and October are the top three months for shark activity on the cape. dr. Greg Skomal, the head of the Marine Fisheries Division, held a briefing about the upcoming shark season with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy. “You’re so much more likely to die in your car than to be bitten by a great white shark,” Skomal said. “It’s such a low-frequency event that it’s hard to predict when it’s going to happen.” But the sharks are out there, spending about half their time in water no deeper than 15 feet, according to researchers. 5 Examines data from the wildlife sanctuary tracking tagged sharks and when they pass over 100 receivers in the ocean. The number of shark detections has been increasing every year since 2013. The latest fatality was in 2018, when boogie boarder Arthur Medici was killed by a shark in Wellfleet. “It’s completely devastating when it happens,” said Megan Winton of the Atlantic Shark Conservancy. “That’s one of the reasons we work so hard here. Not just to do the research, but to get the information into the hands of the public.’ The state plans to re-deploy five receivers along beaches on the outer cape that officials can immediately alert if a tagged shark passes one of them. But the technology is unreliable. “It can work today, it can’t work tomorrow,” explains Skomal. “So, you know, get that. I think some lifeguards might get frustrated because they like the technology.” The state also plans to experiment more with drones that can be used to spot sharks in the water, but depending on conditions, the sharks can be difficult to spot from the air.
A NewsCenter 5 viewer recorded video of a shark attacking a seal near Race Point Beach in Provincetown on Wednesday afternoon.
Researchers say they are looking for patterns in shark behavior and how they interact with seals, and plan to use that information to protect people.
August, September and October are the top three months for shark activity on the cape.
dr. Greg Skomal, the head of the Marine Fisheries Division, held a briefing about the upcoming shark season with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.
“You’re so much more likely to die in your car than to be bitten by a great white shark,” Skomal said. “It’s such a low-frequency event that it’s hard to predict when it’s going to happen.”
But the sharks are out there, spending about half their time in water no deeper than 15 feet, according to researchers.
5 Examines data from the wildlife sanctuary tracking tagged sharks and when they pass over 100 receivers in the ocean.
The number of shark detections has been increasing every year since 2013.
The latest fatality was in 2018, when boogie boarder Arthur Medici was killed by a shark in Wellfleet.
“It’s completely devastating when it happens,” said Megan Winton of the Atlantic Shark Conservancy. “That’s one of the reasons we work so hard here. Not just to do the research, but to get the information into the hands of the public.”
The state plans to re-deploy five receivers along the beaches of the outer Cape that officials can immediately alert if a tagged shark passes one of them. But the technology is unreliable.
“It can work today, it can’t work tomorrow,” explains Skomal. “So, you know, get that. I think some lifeguards might get frustrated because they like the technology.”
The state also plans to experiment more with drones that can be used to spot sharks in the water. But depending on the conditions, the sharks can be difficult to see from the air.
†