![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/QIKBSPJV4ZU4OUFZFTHPHQDJP4.jpg\")
A shark warning sign at the entrance to Coast Guard Beach on Cape Cod.John Tlumacki\/Globe Staff<\/p>\nA shark warning sign at the entrance to Coast Guard Beach on Cape Cod.John Tlumacki\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are more white sharks off the coast of Massachusetts, and specifically off the coast of Cape Cod, than there were twenty years ago,\u201d Greg Skomal, a senior fisheries biologist with the state\u2019s Division of Marine Fisheries and a leading expert on white sharks, said. \u201cThat\u2019s what you expect when you restore an ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n
White sharks once dominated the waters around Cape Cod, but scientists believe recreational fishers looking for a big catch and accidental catches by commercial tuna and swordfish fisheries are to blame for their decline. The white shark population in New England dropped by 63 to 73 percent during the 1970s and 1980s, <\/b>according to scientists.<\/p>\n
At the time, many saw sharks\u2019 disappearance from the waters as a boon for humans. \u201cJaws,\u201d which premiered in 1975, left many viewers terrified of encountering the animals on a swim. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe perception at the time of \u2018Jaws\u2019 and even prior to \u2018Jaws\u2019 was that the only good shark was a dead shark,\u201d Skomal, who wrote a book on the history of shark research, said.<\/p>\n
But without white sharks, the ocean\u2019s natural food chains are thrown off balance, leading to the proliferation of certain species of fish as others languish, like the coral reefs and kelp that fish eat.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/ECEJSGGRBOVMAI4WPHU3YMJID4.jpg\")
A seal off Plymouth in late April 2024 with a fresh white shark bite.<\/p>\n
In 1993, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) implemented the first management measures for Atlantic <\/b>sharks, including a prohibition on removing their fins. A turning point came four years later, when white sharks were marked as a prohibited species for harvesting.<\/p>\n
Although scientists cannot pin down a direct cause of the population recovery, the increasing numbers of sharks are correlated with the implementation of shark management plans and the growing population of grey seals, their prey. Congress banned the killing of seals under the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972.<\/p>\n
Around 800 white sharks visited the waters off Cape Cod from 2015 to 2018, according to the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy (AWSC). <\/b>Although scientists do not know how many sharks frequented the coast before that, they said the number generally indicates the species is recovering in the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have that magic number of \u2018this is the perfect ecosystem,\u2019\u201d Ashleigh Novak, a research coordinator at AWSC, said. \u201cBut what we do know is that from these protective measures for seals and sharks we\u2019re seeing them begin to recover.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to miss the sharks\u2019 return to Cape Cod from the shore. Beachgoers spot their<\/a> unmistakable fins<\/a> in the waters each year and take precautions to avoid the animals, which have become a normal part of swimming<\/a> in the ocean.<\/p>\n Skomal believes people\u2019s warming attitudes towards sharks represent a transformative change for marine biology.<\/p>\n \u201cI think this prevalence of fear in the seventies that persisted for, perhaps, another decade or so has morphed into fascination,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n It certainly did for Skomal, who saw \u201cJaws\u201d with his friends in Fairfield, Conn., when he was 13 years old. He remembers watching Richard Dreyfuss as shark expert Matt Hooper, who came to Amity Island to \u201csolve the shark conundrum.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI thought it was like, the most amazing film,\u201d Skomal said. \u201cI was inspired by that and decided really at that age that this was something I wanted to go into for the rest of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n At the time of the film\u2019s release, researchers largely studied how the \u201cman-eaters\u201d attack humans, as scientists referred to sharks in scientific papers. A new generation of biologists has expanded humans\u2019 understanding of the species \u201cby orders of magnitude,\u201d including how they grow, reproduce, and most importantly for humans, feed, Skomal said.<\/p>\n Skomal studies white sharks\u2019 predatory behavior when hunting grey seals for insights into how to keep humans safer in the ocean. He uses video cameras mounted on sharks\u2019 bodies and accelerometer tags, which measure movements like tail-beat frequency and swimming depth, to understand when, where, and how sharks hunt their prey.<\/p>\n \u201cWe could take that information and translate it into recommendations for the public,\u201d Skomal said.<\/p>\n The National Park Service offers safety guidance for visitors to Cape Cod, including tips to stay close to the shore, swim in groups, limit splashing, and avoid areas where seals and schools of fish are swimming.<\/p>\n Endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh wants to see humans and sharks coexist in the ocean. In May, he swam sixty miles around Martha\u2019s Vineyard<\/a>, where \u201cJaws\u201d was filmed, to help change people\u2019s attitudes from fear to a healthy respect for sharks.<\/p>\n He considers the Shark Swim a step towards undoing the film\u2019s lasting negative impact.<\/p>\n \u201cIt shaped the narrative about sharks for the past fifty years, no question about that. It created a culture of fear around the world,\u201d Pugh said.<\/p>\n Vendetta killings, shark-fishing tournaments, and commercial shark fishing proliferated in the decades after the film\u2019s release.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a lot of fear around sharks resulting from them watching \u2018Jaws,\u2019 and there were shark tournaments,\u201d said Novak, referring to fishing <\/b>competitions where participants try to catch the biggest shark.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is this really big public perception shift that has happened in the last fifty years.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/D37BF6IIR73CUCAQKFL7B4U3WI.jpg\")
A memorial in July 2024 at Newcomb Hollow Beach for Arthur Medici, who was killed by a shark while surfing off the beach in 2018.John Tlumacki\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/6LOCNDXGIBBXDCFDAPP4YK3MPI.gif\")
The dorsal fin of the great white shark cut above the water off Cape Cod.Shannon Larson\/GLOBE STAFF<\/p>\n