Cape shark expedition: 6 great whites spotted off Chatham, Herald tags along to witness apex predators up close
Six great white sharks were spotted by a group on a thrilling White Shark Expedition off of Chatham on Sunday, including a Herald reporter and photographer who got to see the apex predators up close in their natural habitat.
The shark-spotting boat with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy traveled down to Chatham’s Monomoy Island, a hotbed of great white activity.
Spotter pilot Wayne Davis, flying overhead, quickly found a couple shark-looking outlines in the water, telling Captain Matt Mendoza of “Afishinsea” where to look.
“Look dead ahead, 12:30 or 1 o’clock,” said Maddie Poirier, ecotourism naturalist for the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy. “You see that shadow just over there?
“That, everyone, is a great white shark,” she told the exhilarated guests, adding that she estimated the apex predator was a 12-footer.
“Oh my God!” exclaimed 10-year-old Erin Grimm, her eyes growing wide as the shark swam by. “That is so cool!”
Those on board first look for a purple, gray smudge or shadow in the water.
Then when they get closer to the shadow, they can start to make out the shark’s features a lot better, including its fin and tail.
After looking at the shark for a few minutes, the spotter pilot’s voice came over the speaker.
“If you get tired of that one, we got one over here,” Davis said from the sky.
The spotting boat moved over to the next shark, and Poirier started plugging in the sightings into the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy Sharktivity app.
“Anything and everything you see will be going straight through that app,” she told the guests.
“If we we were at a public beach here, I’d be making phone calls and sending out alerts for public safety,” Poirier added. “We’re trying to aid in that the best that we can, and having eyes on the water can be really helpful.”
The second shark had a tag hanging off its dorsal fin. The shiny white acoustic tag lets researchers know when the shark swims near one of its buoys, and helps the scientists understand the sharks’ movement patterns.
There are also five real-time receivers at popular beaches, and the lifeguards are immediately alerted if one of the tagged sharks is in the area.
If the water conditions are right, Poirier will use a GoPro camera to collect underwater video footage. Researchers are collecting footage to identify individual sharks, and build a shark database.
One of the sharks the team spotted was a juvenile, which quickly darted away from the boat.
“Sometimes the smaller sharks get a little bit uncomfortable with the boats on top of them,” Poirier said. “They tend to get a little jumpy and take off, which makes it really difficult to do any kind of research on juveniles and pups.
“As much as I’d love to have a shark right next to us, it is pretty cool to see the shark’s speed as it takes off,” she said.
In total, the people on the boat saw six sharks in about an hour.
“This is an embarrassment of riches,” said Erin’s mother Rebecca Grimm, who previously went on an expedition when the visibility was poor after a storm. “Just sharks everywhere.”
The private charter White Shark Expeditions run twice daily through mid October. The expeditions are run aboard the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s vessel, as well as Chatham Bars Inn and BlueWater Entertainment vessels.
To learn more, email Kristen@atlanticwhiteshark.org, or visit www.atlanticwhiteshark.org/private-white-shark-tours-cape-cod.
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