Great white shark attacks seal off Nantucket, the first Atlantic White Shark Conservancy confirmed shark sighting of the season

Boston Herald ^ | May 30, 2022 | Rick Sobey

[Capt. Tom]

Cape Cod shark researchers have reported the first confirmed great white shark sighting of the season, as more eyeballs were on the water for the unofficial start of summer.

The white shark chomping on the seal on Sunday was the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s first confirmed sighting of the season, according to Massachusetts-based shark expert John Chisholm, who is with the New England Aquarium and who has been tracking shark sightings for many years.

“We’ve had a couple of other unconfirmed sightings, but this is the first one where we actually got to see the shark,” said Chisholm, “We know definitively that it’s a white shark,” added Chisholm, who runs the “MA Sharks” Twitter account.

Great whites coming to the Cape ahead of the official start of summer is not early, he noted.

“Everything is unfolding right on schedule,” Chisholm said. “This first sighting is probably more dramatic than in past years because it was witnessed by so many people and captured on video, but it’s right on schedule.”

The video of the shark predation event shows just how close the apex predators get to the shore, he added.

“They’re after the seals, so they’ll get really close to shore,” Chisholm said. “The more people who know that, the better. We want to make sure everyone is aware of that.”

[dainbramaged]

The best way to avoid a shark attack is to remain on the beach or in the boat.

[Capt. Tom]

“Amity” as you know, means”friendship”.

I suspect we had life imitating art on Cape Cod. Remember the scene in “Jaws” where Mayor Vaughn is concerned about the Police Chief Martin Brody panicking the beachgoers with shark talk.

"Martin, it's all psychological. You yell barracuda, everybody says, "Huh? What?" You yell shark, we've got a panic on our hands on the Fourth of July."