Shark tourism grows on Cape Cod, 3 years after attacks

CHATHAM — There’s no ominous music, no telltale fin breaking the surface as the powerful silhouette of a great white shark glides alongside the small tour boat off Cape Cod.

Michael Simard crouches low and points a finger in the direction of the roughly 10-foot predator cruising in the water below.

The 48-year-old construction foreman from Cambridge glances back at his partner, Penny Antonoglou, who dutifully pulls out her smartphone while he holds the pose. Smile. Click.

“It’s awe-inspiring, really,” Simard said after the tour, where they spotted at least six great whites. “I didn’t realize how graceful they were. It does put it into perspective that this is their element, and we just share it with them.”

Three summers after Cape Cod saw two great white shark attacks on humans — including the state’s first fatal attack since 1936 — the popular tourist destination is showing signs it’s slowly, tentatively embracing its shark-y reputation.

A small but growing group of charter boat operators are offering great white shark tours in a region where whale and seal watching excursions have long been a tourist rite of passage.

The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, a prominent nonprofit shark research organization, is among those that have jumped into the shark ecotourism game and has renovated its Shark Center, a family-friendly museum showcasing its research into the local shark population.

Elsewhere, local shark-themed merchandisers are reporting brisk businesses.

“It feels like we’re on the trajectory of it being a point of pride for Cape Cod,” said Patrick Clarke, owner of the jewelry company Cape Clasp. “A lot of the initial fear and hysteria was the fear of the unknown, but we’re learning more and more about them every year.”

There’s no definitive tally for how much shark-related tourism contributes to the local economy, but its growth is helping stretch the tourist season into the fall, as peak shark sightings happen in August and September, says Paul Niedzwiecki, CEO of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce.

“Several years ago, there was a concern that it might have a negative impact on tourism,” Niedzwiecki said. “But we’ve been working to educate people about sharks and what we’ve actually seen is no negative impact.”

Mike Bosley, who captained the shark tour Simard and Antonoglou took last month, hopes shark watching tours can bring a different perspective to the local shark discourse.

“There’s always been sharks, but there hasn’t always been the opportunity to interact with sharks in this fashion,” said Bosley, whose Dragonfly Sportfishing started offering shark tours in earnest this summer in between its regular fishing and whale watching excursions. “They’re part of our ecosystem.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3zUOXxS