Funny... there were reports of sharks off the coast back during colonial days if memory serves.
Of course, but here is the present day problem with too many seals and white sharks here now.
From 1888 to 1962, Seals were culled in Maine and Massachusetts by paying a bounty on them, this kept their numbers down. The Federal Marine Mammal Protection Act gave seals protection in 1972.
Throughout Massachusetts the gray seal population exploded from a few dozen in 1972, to an estimated 50,000 or more in 2018.
Until the 1970s White sharks, were called “man-eaters”, and were routinely killed for their trophy jaws, and meat. They were a rarity in Massachusetts when they received Federal protection in 1997.