Successful Seal Conservation Efforts Brings Great White Sharks To Cape Cod

Great white sharks are having an unusual effect on Cape Cod this summer, and are being spotted in growing numbers, stirring curiosity and a buying frenzy for shark-related merchandise, according to The Associated Press.

Tourists peer through coin-operated binoculars in hopes of catching a glimpse of a shark fin from the beaches of Chatham, the AP reported.

The posh resort town is on the elbow of the cape that has a large population of gray seals, the massive animals whose blubber is the fuel of choice for great white sharks, according to the AP. Local shops sell jewelry, candy, clothes, stuffed animals and beverages with shark motifs.

A study released last month by scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found the number of great white sharks off the Eastern U.S. and Canada is surging after decades of decline, the AP reported.

Conservation efforts and the greater availability of prey such as Massachusetts' seals are credited with the reversal, according to the AP.

Shark sightings have soared from generally fewer than two annually before 2004 to more than 20 in each of the last few years off Cape Cod, where the economy depends heavily on the summer tourism season, the AP reported.

Despite notices urging boaters and swimmers to use caution, the official reaction has been nearly the opposite of the panic depicted in "Jaws," the 1975 film shot mainly on the Massachusetts island of Martha's Vineyard, according to the AP.

"You have to make sure people understand," Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce CEO Wendy Northcross said, "if they go to the beach and they see a family of seals there, that's probably not the best place to hang out," the AP reported.

"White sharks are this iconic species in society and it draws amazing amounts of attention," said Gregory Skomal, a senior marine fisheries biologist who also leads the Massachusetts Shark Research Program, who said people are coming in hopes of witnessing the animals in their splendor, the AP reported. "I have not been approached by anyone who has said to me 'let's go kill these sharks.'"

Confrontations with people are rare, with only 106 unprovoked white shark attacks, 13 of them fatal, in U.S. waters since 1916, according to data provided by the University of Florida, according to the AP.

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