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VACATIONERS have been warned to double-check the coasts with a newly released app before taking a dip in shark-infested waters this holiday weekend.
As sightings increase in the warmer months, researchers have unveiled a high-tech tool that they hope will keep swimmers safe.
The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy has a “Sharktivity” app that tracks great whites floating near popular beaches in Massachusetts.
The group is encouraging swimmers to download the app, as they’ve already observed great white sharks near locations such as Nantucket, Cape Cod, Ipswich, and Rockport, reported by Fox affiliate WFXT.
By using the Sharktivity app, swimmers can get a glimpse at where the predators are swarming the most.
The interactive tool showcases sightings that are reported by users, and then later confirmed by safety officials and researchers.
The conservancy reviews the shark activity and then warns users if the sighting is dangerously close to shore.
A red icon on the Sharktivity map indicates a great white has been sighted close to a public beach, and researchers have verified the sighting as valid.
Blue icons mean there was a confirmed report that wasn’t dangerous.
And orange icons mean that a sighting was reported, but officials haven’t been able to confirm anything.
Yellow icons pop up when a white shark with an acoustic tag is caught swimming through the ocean in real time.
If the icon is purple, that means the sea creature’s tags were picked up over an hour ago.
Users can also keep an eye on sharks that have been tagged by the conservancy.
Those predators are indicated with green icons on the app and show up every time their dorsal fin breaks the surface.
Great White Sharks – the facts
Here’s what you need to know…
- The great white shark is a species of the large mackerel shark
- They’re typically found in the costal surface waters of all major oceans
- Great whites are famous for their size
- Females are bigger than males, growing up to 6.1 metres, or 20 feet, in length
- At full maturity, a great white can weigh up to 1,905 kilograms, or 4,200 pounds
- A 2014 study revealed that the lifespan of a great white shark is estimated at 70 years or longer
- Great white sharks can swim at speeds of over 56km/h or 35mph
- And they can swim to depths of 1,200m, or 3,900 feet
- Experts believe that great whites have no natural predators, other than the killer whale in very rare instances
- Great whites became part of the popular imagination after the 1974 novel Jaws, and the later Steven Spielberg film adaptation
- Humans aren’t the natural prey of great whites, but they’re responsible for the largest number of unprovoked shark attacks on humans
STAY SAFE
According to John Chisholm, an adjunct scientist at the New England Aquarium, sightings typically increase during the first pleasant beach days of the season.
He said that the Sharktivity app is great for Massachusetts residents, but warned swimmers that plenty of sharks are swimming throughout the Atlantic.
“No matter where you’re going into the water, whether that’s Cape Cod or Gloucester or Plymouth, you need to be shark smart,” he told the outlet last year.
One essential way that swimmers can stay safe is by not sharing the waters with seals, Chisholm warned.
“If you’re seeing seals or schools of fish or birds working on the water, that means there’s food there for the sharks,” he said.
“They’re going to come looking for it.”
The Sharktivity app is available to download on iPhone and Android.
The shark news comes as a surfer was captured on video being headbutted by a beast in the water.
