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Approximately 800 sharks visited the waters of Cape Cod between 2015 to 2018, making the area one of the world's largest hotspots for white sharks, according to a new study published in the Marine Ecology Progress Series journal.
Lead researcher Megan Winton and her co-researchers Gavin Fay and Greg Skomal conducted an intensive mark-recapture survey of the sharks in the Cape Cod area, creating the first-ever estimate of white shark abundance ever produced in the North Atlantic Ocean, according to a post on the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy's Facebook page.
Reported shark sightings have increased in the area since the early 2000s, likely due to a resurgence of gray seals in the area, the study said.
The paper confirms these reports and determined that the number of sharks in the area sets Cape Cod apart from other parts of the world.
The study's findings determined an "important baseline" for the species, which may help with further conservation research.
Click here to read the full study.
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