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Cape Cod is widely considered the ‘shark capital of the Northeast’ and this is particularly true in the summer when Great White Sharks are found in abundance off the Massachusetts peninsula.
A paddleboarder named Margaret Bowles learned firsthand how shark infested the waters off Cape Cod on July 4th when she and a high school friend found themselves mere feet away from a massive Great White shark .
The close encounter with the great white was captured from a rarely seen perspective. They were taking photos for Instagram when they noticed a large great white shark’s dorsal fin between the cameraman and the paddleboarder.
Paddleboarder Gets Close to Cape Cod Great White Shark
Afterwards, Bowles was in disbelief. She took one look at the photos and the clearly visible dorsal fin of the massive shark and still said to herself, ‘No way! They’re not there.’
Only later, speaking with Boston’s WHDH 7 News, did Margaret Bowles seem to accept how close she was to the great white shark while paddleboarding off Cape Cod.
Bowles told local news: “It took a second to register that this is what happened, but it was a complete surprise. I spent years teaching marine biology here and swimming in the ocean. I certainly never expected a great time as the shark strolled my way.”
His photos of the shark encounter at Stony Beach in Woods Hole went viral after being shown on the evening news. Look closely at the bottom right corner of the frame here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nlaefh_0pm
The dorsal fin was estimated to have protruded 8 inches from the water. Experts agreed this was a great white shark, the first confirmed sighting of one in Buzzards Bay since 2004, but it’s unclear how large it was.
Sharks on the cover
Summer is the ‘sharkiest’ time of year on Cape Cod. But it is generally accepted that most (if not all) of the great whites stay on the outer cape and not back at Woods Hole where this brush with the great white shark occurred.
Speaking to the NYpost after the incident, Bowles said, “I always operated under the assumption that there were no sharks in Woods Hole. I would have friends come over and they would ask, ‘Are there sharks here?’ And I would be like, ‘No, no way.’”
Greg Skomal, a field biologist specializing in sharks for the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, said: “ His data also confirms the belief that most sharks stick to the outer cape.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2H6VKGH2PS
Much remains to be learned about great white shark behavior around Cape Cod. However, it is believed to be a potential breeding ground for North Atlantic great white sharks in the summer, as well as an estuary for juvenile great white sharks to grow before venturing out to sea.
