Great white sharks are swarming Cape Cod beaches again and it is highly attributed to the increase in population of its number one food - seals.
"The growing seal population is a result of the Marine Mammal Protection Act from 1972," says Greg Skomal, senior biologist with the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries department, according to the Daily Beast. "The seals are now rebounding, recolonizing, and becoming resident in many parts of the northeast where they previously had been wiped out. White sharks are the top predator of seals, one of their only predators, and are responding to that. So in essence you get this food source that has grown to a huge level on a relative scale and you've got sharks moving in closer to shore to feed on them.
People in Cape Cod are worried that if someone gets hurt from a shark, tourists will be scared to visit their beaches. That is why they have set-up campaigns to educate tourists of what to observe when exploring the Cape's beaches, according to Slate.
Those who plan to swim the beaches of Cape Cod can still do so, provided that they accept the fact that there are sharks in the area, and don't go snooping around looking for one. Swimmers must also avoid swimming at dusk and dawn, which are the believed to be feeding times of most great white sharks. Citizens and tourists are also reminded to follow the buddy system and to not swim too far from the shore.
The most important key to remember is to never swim near areas where there are a large number of seals as this could only mean that sharks are also swimming nearby.
