by Maine’s Scarborough (AP) Great whitesharks are spending more time in the cold seas off the Atlantic coast of Canada and New England, according to new research.
This implies that fisherman, boaters, and beachgoers who visit the northern waters are learning to coexist with the predators made famous by the Jaws movie fifty years ago. Shark sightings have increased in areas like Maine, where they were formerly quite uncommon.
Beachgoers are normally quite safe from shark bites, according to scientists, who attribute the increased sightings of white sharks to the greater availability of the seals that the sharks eat.
Here is a numerical breakdown.
93 great white sharks identified off Maine from 2020 to 2024
Since 2020, the Gulf of Maine’s great white shark activity has been tracked by the Maine Department of Marine Resources. According to the department, the data will be used to better understand the distribution of white sharks off the coast of the state.
According to the department, there were 19 distinct white shark sightings on 47 distinct dates in 2024.
2 confirmed unprovoked shark attacks in Maine waters since 1837
Julie Dimperio Holowach, 63, was killed by a great white shark off Bailey Island in 2020, the first known fatal shark attack in Maine.
Deathly shark bites are extremely uncommon in Maine and elsewhere, according to shark experts.
Nearly 2.5-fold increase in detection of white sharks off Nova Scotia
Approximately 2.5 times as many white sharks were spotted off Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 2022 as in 2018, according to a May paper published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series. According to the report, the number identified in the Cabot Strait, which divides Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, grew by almost four times further north.
8 shark species known to live in Maine waters
The waters of Maine are home to at least seven different shark species, in addition to the great white shark. These include the common thresher, shortfin mako, blue shark, sand tiger shark, porbeagle, spiny dogfish, and basking shark.
Some of these sharks are harmless, and the majority present very little risk to people.
949 unprovoked shark attacks in recorded human history since 1580
The Florida Museum of Natural History maintains a database of recorded shark attacks called the International Shark Attack File. Even though the great white shark has been known to attack people the most, the number of recorded assaults is still quite small.
According to the International Shark Attack File, there have been 351 recorded unprovoked shark attacks using white sharks, with 59 of those attacks being fatal.
