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With warm weather here and more people out on the water, great white shark sightings are rising around the region.
There has been an "uptick" in confirmed white shark activity off the Bay State in the last week, including reports of sharks chomping on seals and taking hooked striped bass from fishermen.
Also, sharks were spotted feasting on a dead humpback whale off Long Island.
"There's definitely been an uptick in confirmed sightings this week," shark researcher John Chisholm told the Herald.
"Right in time for the 50th anniversary of Jaws," added Chisholm, who confirms shark sightings for the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy's Sharktivity app.
The apex predators come to the Cape every summer and fall to hunt for seals. So as expected, some of the white shark sightings in the last week include shark bites on seals.
Seal with shark bites were reported near Longnook Beach in Truro and near Nantucket's Great Point.
Also, a Provincetown beachgoer spotted a shark hunt and eat a seal—about 25 yards from shore.
The Sharktivity app also has a report of a 10-foot shark taking a caught striped bass from a fisherman in Cape Cod Bay.
Chisholm is hoping that more fishermen report these increasingly common incidents.
"I also want to raise awareness for striped bass fishermen to not linger on the side of the boat," he said. "The biggest concern is when someone is at the side of the boat, and a shark will take the fish and grab them too. They need to be aware."
During past summers, sharks have feasted on whale carcasses off the Cape and Islands. Some lucky sharks in recent days have been feeding on a dead whale off Long Island.
"We were returning from an offshore trip trying to locate pelagic birds for conservation research. With the boat at cruising speed, we smelled what we first thought was whale breath so stopped the boat and scanned the horizon for a whale," Brian Doherty posted. "It turns out we found a Humpback whale carcass that had been dead for a while.
"As we got closer the smell got stronger and we realized there were some huge bites taken out of the whale," Doherty added. "Ten minutes after arriving near the carcass a very large Great white shark appeared and started feeding on the whale carcass. The shark was all of 15′ and was an awesome sight to witness."
Meanwhile off the North Shore of Massachusetts, two white sharks were spotted during a whale watch. The sharks were seen about 10 miles north of Gloucester.
The 7 Seas Whale Watch was heading out to look for whales when their naturalist spotted a shark fin. The 7 Seas will more often see basking sharks and blue sharks.
"We immediately knew from the shape of this shark's dorsal fin it was neither a basking or a blue," the whale watch posted. "We could tell it was either a great white or a short-finned mako—both of which are rare—but needed a better look to positively identify the animal. We approached it slowly so as to increase the chances of it staying at the surface.
"When the shark swam into a smooth patch of water near our boat it became clear it was a white shark!" the whale watch added. "We were very excited. We have only seen this species a handful of times in the 42 years we have been in business. The next big surprise came when a second great white came in and joined the first! Both sharks swam in circles at the surface allowing us to get many good looks, photos and video."
With beach activity picking up, Chisholm urges beachgoers to be "Shark Smart" and pay attention to their surroundings.
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