Local fishermen and beachgoers in Maine and Atlantic Canada are encountering great white sharks more frequently, with seasoned lobsterman Rick Clough spotting an approximately 8-foot shark off Scarborough. Sightings have risen around Cape Cod and are moving north into New Hampshire, Maine and Nova Scotia. Researchers link the increase to greater seal availability, the sharks' primary prey. The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy and fisheries biologists have documented hundreds of animals across the region and note a roughly 2.5-fold increase in detections off Halifax from 2018 to 2022. Most sharks remain well under the maximum size of nearly 20 feet, and beachgoers are generally at low risk of bites.
Boaters, beachgoers and fishermen like Clough who spend time in the chilly waters of New England and Atlantic Canada are learning to live with great white sharks, the creatures made famous by the 1975 film "Jaws." Sightings of the apex predators are up in places like Maine, where they were once very rarely spotted. Scientists link the white shark sightings to increased availability of the seals the sharks feast on, and say beachgoers are generally very safe from shark bites.
The sharks can grow close to 20 feet (6 meters) long, though most don't get that big. David Lancaster, a commercial clam digger in Scarborough, used a drone to get a look at an approximately 12-foot (3.6-meter) shark near the town's famed beaches earlier this month. He described the animal as "magnificent" and "really amazing" to see. But he also said the shark's presence reminded him that swimmers need to look out for the big fish.
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