BOSTON – Great white sharks appear to be back – just as the beach season moves into full swing.

Swimmers are being warned to use common sense and stay away from gray seals – a favorite entree for great whites. Otherwise, jump right in.

“Swimmers should just use common sense and don’t swim near seals,” said Ian Bowles, Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary.

Bowles added Bay State residents are more at risk of being attacked by a black bear than a shark. “I would not put being attacked by a shark high on the list of things to worry about,” he added.

Still, the “Jaws” movies – have some thinking twice about swimming too deep into the Atlantic.

“Hollywood has helped capture the public’s attention with sharks,” Bowles told the Herald Monday.

The latest shark alert comes after a juvenile shark, 6- to 7-feet long and about 150 pounds, was hooked Saturday by a tuna boat about 20 miles off the coast of Scituate in Stellwagen Bank. The shark was tagged and returned to the sea.

Gregory Skomal, the state’s top shark expert for the Division of Marine Fisheries, said the great whites were expected.

“We anticipated an arrival of mid- to late June,” he said Monday. “The satellite tracking shows white sharks migrate north and south – just like tourists.”

Skomal said he hopes to tag more great whites this summer to understand their patterns further.

A year ago, state officials were able to place more-sophisticated electronic tags on five great whites off Cape Cod, resulting in a wealth of new information about their migratory habits.

While the number of credible great white sightings has increased in recent years, officials point out that there have been no fatal shark attacks off Massachusetts in nearly 75 years.

 

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