Shark tracker: See where great whites are lurking before hitting the beach this 4th of July weekend

CHATHAM, Mass. — For many Bay Staters, Fourth of July weekend is synonymous with cookouts, fireworks, and trips to the beach to beat the heat.

With that said, it’s important to stay shark smart, especially since many great whites have been spotted lurking off the coast of Massachusetts in recent days.

According to the Chatham-based Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s Sharktivity app, great whites have been spotted this week off Nantucket, Cape Cod, Ipswich, and Rockport. Multiple sharks were spotted last week off Gloucester, according to 7 Seas Whale Watch.

The conservancy shared this interactive map with Boston 25, showing reported shark sightings in real-time and sightings with photos, as well as confirmed acoustic detections of tagged sharks.

The map’s menu tools allow users to filter shark sightings as recent as 48 hours, over the last 30 days, or between a custom date range.

The icons on the map indicate the following:

• Red alert icon: A white shark sighting is confirmed close to a public beach
• Blue shark fin icon: A confirmed white shark sighting
• Orange shark fin icon: An unconfirmed white shark sighting
• Yellow icon: A receiver that detects white sharks tagged with acoustic tags and transmits the data in real-time
• Purple icon: A real-time detection of a shark tagged with an acoustic tag that is less than an hour old
• Orange icon: Detections of sharks tagged with acoustic transmitters
• Green icon: The shark’s dorsal fin breaks the surface and the tag transmits to overhead satellites

The Sharktivity app, which is available to download on iPhone and Android, tracks sightings fed by researchers, safety officials, and users who upload photos for confirmation.

John Chisholm, adjunct scientist at New England Aquarium, told Boston 25 last year that shark sightings off Massachusetts have increased as the seal population grows.

“No matter where you’re going into the water, whether that’s Cape Cod or Gloucester or Plymouth, you need to be shark smart,” Chisholm cautioned beachgoers.

While the last shark attack in Massachusetts was in 2020, the growing numbers of seals and sharks should make beachgoers more alert, Chisholm advised.

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