Cape COD Shark Detections: Where are the best hotspots for white sharks?

As white sharks return to De Kaap, researchers help the public chomp on the hotspot data of sharks last summer and autumn.

The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s “White Shark Logbook” have been updated with the acoustic detection data from last year of tagged Apex Predators.

More than 100 individuals Sharks were detected along the cape Last year – resulting in nearly 170,000 total detections with the recipients of the scientist.

So where were Shark’s top hotspots last year?

“It is clear that the outer jape is really where it is when it comes to white shark activity in the waters of Massachusetts,” said Megan Winton, research scientist at the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy. “Cape COD Bay also still had a lot of activity.”

The most popular shark spot was past Chatham’s Monomoy Island, where sharks hunt for seals. The recipient “South Shark Cove” along Monomoy last year had the most detections with 18,122 – 74 individual tagged sharks were detected there.

The second place for detections was Nauset North in Orleans with 13,896 last year, 45 individual sharks were detected.

Other hotspots were: Chatham Harbor Inlet South (10,604 detections, with 79 sharks); Nauset Beach South (6,214 detections, with 76 sharks); Coast Guard Beach (7,897 detections, with 72 sharks); Nauset Light (10,040 detections, with 73 sharks); Marconi (7,821 detections, with 72 sharks); and Lecount Hollow (9,388 detections, with 61 sharks).

When it comes to Cape Cod Bay, one of the top spots was Manomet Point in Plymouth – with 2,689 detections and 13 individual sharks.

“There are many seals, so that’s logical,” said Winton. “Many people are surprised when we tell them that sharks are also in the bay.”

109 sharks were detected last year, against 128 sharks in the previous year. But last year there were more general shark detections with 169,601 detections – compared to 145,440 detections of the previous year.

“We don’t really know what’s behind it with the decrease in sharks, but that’s still a lot of sharks,” said Winton.

Many sharks only go through the cape for a seal meal before they go north, while other sharks spend a lot of time past the cape.

For example, the 8.5-foot shark called Bruce had 15,802 total detections last year.

“We have residents who apparently spend most of the summer and fall here, actively patroling on the coastline for seals,” said Winton.

By breaking down the detections per month, most detections were in October (55.187 detections), followed by September (44,662) and August (40,725). There were 5,911 detections last July and 562 detections in June.

Sharks were here in November and December last year – with 20,845 detections in November and 1,639 detections in December.