Cape Cod shark sightings expected to pick up around 4th of July, as Sharktivity app gets new look to track great whites

Remember to be shark smart as you cool off at the beach this holiday week.

As Cape Cod visitors flock to the shore for the Fourth of July, shark sightings are expected to pick up.

“We have had so many seal predations in recent weeks, but few sightings of great whites so far this year,” local shark expert John Chisholm told the Herald.

“With more people out on the water and more beachgoers for the Fourth, that’s when the shark sightings should pick up,” added Chisholm, who confirms shark sightings across the region.

Great white sharks in recent summers have come here to hunt for seals, feeding on the prey in shallow water close to shore. While white shark bites on humans are rare, they have occurred off the Cape — with the most recent bite, in 2018, resulting in a man’s death.

Some shark safety tips for those heading to the beach include: staying close to shore, avoiding areas where seals are present, staying away from schools of fish, avoiding murky water, limiting splashing, and adhering to flag warnings at beaches.

Beachgoers can also follow the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s Sharktivity tracking app, which has shark sightings from around the region. Shark alerts are issued when a white shark is confirmed close to a public beach.

Many of the shark sightings on the Sharktivity app in the last month have been of deal seals that were bitten by the apex predators, but some white sharks were spotted in recent days.

“12’+ great white shark killed seal,” a spotter reported along the Outer Cape off Eastham, not far from Nauset Beach.

“8′ white shark reported by paddle boarder,” reads a sighting report from Provincetown Harbor.

“12′ white shark spotted by fishermen,” reads another sighting report off Wellfleet’s Jeremy Point.

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Meanwhile, the popular Sharktivity app recently had an update that should make it simpler for people to report sightings. People can also now see a shark’s full track over thousands of miles.

“I really enjoy the new streamlined sighting reporting flow,” said Tucker MacDonald, the developer who worked on the app updates. “We hope it makes it easier for residents to report sightings and attach photos.”

The sighting update includes the exact location and time for when the person saw a shark.

“It makes vetting a lot easier,” MacDonald said.

The updated app also has a chart breakdown of sightings from the last week, month and year.

There’s a lot of educational material on the app, as well, about white sharks off the Cape and human encounters.

“White sharks aren’t out to get you,” the app reads. “People are not on a shark’s menu. If they were, the number of encounters between sharks and people would be much higher.”

Shark bites on humans happen due to mistaken identity, as sharks can misperceive a person as a marine mammal. Sharks are also curious.

“Sharks use their teeth much like a dog uses its nose, looking to gather information about what comes across their path,” the app reads. “Defensive reaction: It may seem counterintuitive but, while sharks often evoke a sense of fear in people, they are capable of being afraid, especially if they are startled by a person.”

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