Cape Cod is widely considered to be the ‘shark capital of the Northeast’ and that is particularly true in the Summer when great white sharks are found in abundance off the Massachusetts peninsula.
One paddleboarder by the name of Margaret Bowles learned firsthand how shark-infested the Cape Cod waters are on the 4th of July when she and a high school friend found themselves mere feet away from a large great white shark.
The close encounter with the large great white was captured in a perspective that’s rarely seen. They were snapping pictures for Instagram when they took note of a large dorsal fin from a great white shark between the cameraman and the paddleboarder.
Paddleboarder Gets Close With Cape Cod Great White Shark
In the aftermath, Bowles was in disbelief. She took a look at the photos and the clearly visible dorsal find of the massive shark and still told herself ‘No way! They aren’t there.’
Only later, speaking to the Boston’s WHDH 7 News, Margaret Bowles seemed to accept how close she was to the great white shark while paddleboarding in Cape Cod.
Bowles told the local news “It took a second to register that was what happened but it was a complete surprise. I’ve spent years teaching marine biology here and swimming in the ocean. I certainly never expected for a great while shark to wander my way.”
Her photos from the close shark encounter at Stony Beach in Woods Hole went viral after being aired on the evening news. Look closely at the bottom right of the frame here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nlaeFH_0pM
The dorsal fin was estimated to be protruding 8-inches out of the water. Experts agreed this was a great white shark, the first confirmed sighting of one in Buzzards Bay since 2004, but it’s unclear how large it was.
Sharks in The Cape
Summer is the ‘sharkiest’ time of the year in Cape Cod but it is generally accepted that most (if not all) of the big great whites stay on the Outer Cape and not back in Woods Hole where this brush with the white shark took place.
Speaking with the NYPost after the incident, Bowles said “I always operated under the assumption that there were no sharks in Woods Hole. I would have friends down and they’d ask, ‘Are there sharks here?’ And I’d be like, ‘No, no way.'”
Greg Skomal is a field biologist specializing in sharks for the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. He told Cape and Islands their data also confirms the widely held belief that most sharks stick to the Outer Cape.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2h6vkGH2ps
Much is still yet to be learned about great white shark behavior in Cape Cod. But it is believed to be a potential breeding ground for Northern Atlantic white sharks in the Summer. As well as an estuary for juvenile white sharks to grow before venturing out to sea.
The post Cape Cod Paddleboarder Finds Out Why It’s Considered The ‘Shark Capital Of The Northeast’ appeared first on BroBible.
Cape Cod Paddleboarder Finds Out Why It’s Considered The ‘Shark Capital Of The Northeast’
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