The 50th anniversary of the classic Steven Spielberg film, “Jaws” was back in June, but recent sightings of sharks in Massachusetts are very much a reality.
On Monday, Sept. 29, there were six sightings, according to the Sharktivity app, which monitors shark sightings, and shows users where they are.
The app reported six sightings on Saturday, Sept. 27, and 11 on Friday, Sept. 26.
Where were all these shark sightings? What kinds of sharks are being reported?
Here’s what to know.
What kind of sharks are people seeing?
According to the Sharktivity app, all the recent sharks that were spotted were great whites.
Where were some of the recent sightings?
The following information was collected on the Sharktivity app:
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On Monday, many of the great white sharks were all reported between Monomoy Island and what could be called the “elbow” of Cape Cod. The sightings were recorded between 9:48 a.m. and 2:32 p.m.
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On Sept. 27, the six sightings happened between the hours of 9:17 a.m. and 2:09 p.m. At 9:17 a.m. a white shark was spotted only 20 feet offshore at North Beach Island, Chatham. At 1:09 p.m. the same day, a great white was sighted 50 yards off North Beach Island. At 1:34 p.m. one of the great whites was seen 500 yards off the south cut of Chatham Harbor.
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The 11 sightings on Sept. 26 were all in the same vicinity as the previous ones, between Monomoy Island and the “elbow” of Cape Cod. Those included a white shark spotted off Sandy Neck Beach in West Barnstable; one in Orleans and one near Lecount Hollow Beach in Welfleet.
Is it ‘peak’ shark season?
State shark biologist John Chisholm stated on social media earlier this week that, “It’s peak white shark season so stay vigilant if you’re going in the water,” according to a CBS News report.
The report continued, “A buoy off North Beach Island in Chatham detected multiple sharks this weekend, including the named sharks C-Horse, Mueller, Saucer, Kylie and Commodore. The biggest of the bunch is the 11-foot Mueller, a male shark that was detected Saturday afternoon. Mueller was named by an anonymous donor after former FBI Director Robert Mueller… .”
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About great white sharks?
In a past interview with USA Today Network, Nick Whitney, PhD, the senior scientist and chair of the Fisheries Science and Emerging Technologies department at the New England Aquarium, commented on the size of white sharks.
“The largest white sharks that have been reliably measured are right around 20 feet, and any larger than this is likely impossible,” he said at the time. “We know this because scientists have been able to calculate the size of white sharks at different ages and show that their growth levels off when they hit around 40 years old.
“So you could roughly estimate a white shark’s age based on it’s length for its first few decades of life, but if you measured several white sharks between the ages of 40 and 70, their lengths would all be similar.”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) website noted that when great whites are first born, they are about four-feet long.
The website also reported that great white sharks can typically weigh more than 4,000 pounds, or two tons.
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According to National Geographic online, great whites can “rocket through the water at speeds approaching 35 miles an hour and (have) a bite force of up to 1.8 metric tons.”
According to Britannica.com, “Newborn white sharks feed on fishes and other sharks. As they reach adulthood, their prey includes sea turtles, seals, sea lions, porpoises, dolphins, and small whales.
“Prey is usually hunted by ambush, where the shark will attempt to rush the animal by surprise and inflict a sudden and massive fatal bite. Often this initial rush is so strong that the intense impact may send the prey out of the water or will send the shark into the air if it misses the target.”
A study by Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, UMass Dartmouth and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries estimated that 800 white sharks visited the waters off of Cape Cod between 2015 and 2018.
A sign warning of great white sharks was posted at the path to Nauset Beach in Massachusetts earlier this month.
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How can people keep track of great white sightings?
People can keep up with any great white activity via the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s Sharktivity app, which “provides information and push notifications on white shark sightings, detections, and movements to raise awareness and help people and sharks co-exist.”
Are there other kinds of sharks in Massachusetts waters?
Ryan Knotek, an associate research scientist with the New England Aquarium told the Cape Cod Times in 2023 there are at least 23 species that call New England waters home, or that pass through the region.
Those include hammerheads, basking sharks, blue sharks, shortfin makos, porbeagle sharks, sand tiger sharks, and others.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Peak season for great white sharks, many spotted off MA coast