Scarborough, Maine (AP) – Rick Cloough spent about four decades fishing for lobsters and sea lakes on the Maino Coast, before noticing one of the most recognized ocean predators – a great white shark.
The shark of about 8 feet (2.4 meters), seen in the city of Scarborough in Scarborough in July, was surprised by Cloough, but did not fear him to fear the ocean-Nors admitted, “I’m not sure I would like to dive in Urchin now.”
Shippers, beach visitors and fishermen, such as Cloough, who spend time in the cool waters of New England and the Atlantic Canada, learn to live with great white sharks, creatures famous in 1975. In Jaws. Supreme predators’ observations are located in places like Mein, where they were once rarely noticed.
Scientists associate white shark observations with the availability of increased sharks of seals, and say that beach visitors are usually very safe from shark bite. Sharks can grow nearly 20 feet (6 meters), although most of them lose so large.
David Lancaster, a commercial mollusc cashier in Scarborough, used a drone to look at the shark of about 12 feet (3.6 meters) near the famous city beaches earlier this month. He described the animal as “amazing” and “really amazing” to see. However, he also said that the presence of a shark reminded him that swimmers needed to pay attention to big fish.
Why are the big whites go north?
In recent years, the observations of the great white Cod, the city of Massachusetts, have become more and more, while the Atlantic White Shark Conservatory has recorded hundreds of animals for more than a decade. However, new data show that sharks go further north to New Hampshire, Maine and beyond, said Greg Skomal, Senior Fisheries Biologist and White Shark, a veteran of the White Shark, Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Department.
Based on Skomal and others in May. Marine Ecology Progress magazine, Skomal and others in May. The number of Marine Ecology Progress magazine increased by about 2.5 times from 2018 to 2022. Even further north, found in the Cabot Strait, which separates Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, increased almost four times, according to the document.
Skomal said the average residence of these northern waters also increased from 48 days to 70 days, indicating that white sharks look more comfortable north.
The main reason for the shift seems to be the successful preservation of New England and Canada seals under the laws such as the Marine Mammalian Act, which allowed the seals to flourish and submit a food source to predatory sharks, Skomal said.
“It can be the function of a growing prey base,” said Skomalis. “And that would be stamps.”
Sharks are also protected
Great white sharks are also useful for protective measures, including the ban on fishing in the US federal waters that have been standing since 1997. The International Nature Conservation Union is still considered vulnerable.
In the state of Massachusetts, the Maritime Fisheries Department said it had strengthened its fishing laws after 2024. The fishermen chose to direct the white sharks. The state forbade the use of certain types of heavy fishing equipment on the shore, where white sharks are most commonly found.
“We believe that here, in the state of Massachusetts, pointing to white sharks from the beach is not a safe practice,” said Skomalis. “Not only because it can cause shark death, but also because it can be a problem for society’s security.”
Despite the size and strength of the sharks, dangerous meetings of white sharks and humans are dull. According to the Florida Museum of Natural History, there were fewer than 60 deadly great white shark bites around the world in the history of people.
Life with great whites
The first captured deadly shark attack Maine took place in 2020, when a great white shark killed 63-year-old Julie Dimer Holowach near Bailey Island.
“This is an extremely rare event. However, we provide all this information to relieve human behavior and hopefully reduce any negative people and shark meetings,” said Ashleigh Novak, a research coordinator with Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.
Social media growth shark’s observations have become viral in the last summers. The smartphone app, called Sharktival, also allows Shark observers to report their observations.
Lancaster, surfer, said that living with big whites is just something that people in New England will have to adapt.
“It is crazy that they are nearby, like fishermen and surfers, and what we have to accept,” Lancaster said. “This is at the back of your head, but you have to accept it.”
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The Associated Press photojournalist Robert F. Bukati contributed to this story in Scarborough, Maine.
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This story was based on the funding of the Walton Family Foundation. AP is only responsible for all content.