Shark tourism on Cape Cod recovers from 2018 fatal attack, with tours, merchandise, a museum, and changing attitudes
- Shark-themed businesses around Cape Cod in the US state of Massachusetts are reporting increased takings this summer
- An increase in the number of great white sharks in the area has led to more shark-watching tours, and shark-themed merchandise is in demand
There’s no ominous music, no telltale fin breaking the surface as the powerful silhouette of a great white shark glides alongside a small tour boat off Cape Cod, in the American state of Massachusetts.
Michael Simard crouches low and points a finger in the direction of the roughly three metre (10ft) predator cruising in the glassy water below. The 48-year-old construction foreman from Cambridge, Massachusetts, 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 says after the tour, during which they spotted at least six great whites. “I didn’t realise 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 south of Boston is showing signs it’s slowly, tentatively embracing its sharky 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 non-profit research organisation, is among those that have jumped into the shark eco-tourism game. It’s also renovated its Shark Centre, a family-friendly museum showcasing its research into the local shark population, and is building another educational outpost, set to open next summer, in the bustling tourist centre of Provincetown.