Climate change means more large white sharks in New England waters each summer

The shark of about 8 feet (2.4 meters), seen off the seaside town of Scarborough in July, surprised Cloud, but did not make him fear the ocean – although he admitted: “I am not sure that I would like to do the sea urchin to dive now.”

Boaters, beach and fishermen like Cloud who spends time in the cold waters of New England and Atlantic Canada learn to live with great white sharks, the creatures made famous by the 1975 “Jaws” film. The observations of Apex predators are in places like Maine, where they have been very rarely identified.

Scientists connect the observations of white sharks to an increased availability of the seals on which sharks feast on, and say that beach enthusiasts are generally very safe from shark bites. Sharks can grow almost 20 feet (6 meters) long, although most of them do not become so large.

David Lancaster, a commercial excavation of clams in Scarborough, used a drone to take a look at a shark of about 12 feet (3.6 meters) near the famous city beaches this month. He described the animal as “beautiful” and “really incredible” to see. But he also said that the shark’s presence reminded him that swimmers had to monitor the big fish.

Why are the big whites going north?

Great whites observations off CAPE COD, Massachusetts, have become more and more frequent in recent years, and Atlantic White Shark Conservancy has documented hundreds of animals in more than a decade. But new data show that sharks are heading even further north in New Hampshire, in Maine and beyond, said Greg Skomal, a biologist of senior peaches in the Massachusetts marine peaches and white veteran researcher.

The number of white sharks detected off Halifax, Nova Scotia, increased approximately 2.5 times from 2018 to 2022, according to an article published by Skomal and others in May in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series. Even further north, the number detected in the Cabot Strait that separates Nova Scotia and Newfoundland has increased almost four times, said the newspaper.

Skomal said that the average residence in these northern waters has also increased from 48 days to 70 days, suggesting that white sharks seem to be more and more comfortable further north.

One of the main reasons for the quarter seems to be the successful conservation of SEALs off New England and Canada via laws such as the Mammal Protection Act navy, which allowed SEAL to prosper and provide food for predatory sharks, said Skomal.

“This could be a growing prey base,” said Skomal. “And that would be seals.”

Sharks are also protected

Large white sharks also benefit from protections, in particular a ban on fishing for them in American federal waters which has been located since 1997. They are still considered vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

In the Massachusetts, the Marine Fisheries Department said it had strengthened its fishing laws after fishermen in 2024 have chosen to target white sharks anyway. The state has prohibited the use of certain types of heavy fishing equipment in the shore areas where white sharks are most often found.

“We are thinking here of the Massachusetts that targeting the white sharks of the beach is not a safe practice,” said Skomal. “Not only because it could lead to the death of the shark, but because it could be a public security problem.”

Despite the size and strength of sharks, the dangerous meetings between white sharks and humans have disappeared. Around the world, there have been less than 60 major dead white shark bites on humans in recorded history, according to the international shark attack dossier at Florida Museum of Natural History.

Living with great whites

The first deadly shark attack recorded in Maine occurred in 2020 when a large white shark killed Julie Dimperio Holowach, 63, off the island of Bailey.

“This is an extremely rare event. But we provide all this information to mitigate human behavior and, hope, reduce negative meetings between humans and sharks,” said Ashleigh Novak, research coordinator with Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.

Social media growth has made observations of viral sharks in recent summers. A smartphone application called Sharktity also allows shark observers to report their observations.

Lancaster, a surfer, said that living with great whites is just something that people in New England should adapt.

“It’s crazy that they are there, as fishermen and surfers, and something we have to accept,” said Lancaster. “It’s at the back of your head, but you have to accept it.”

___

The photojournalist of the Associated Press, Robert F. Bukaty, contributed to this story to Scarborough, in Maine.

___

This story was supported by the financing of the Walton Family Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.