Kevin Collins
Welcome this publicly available edition of the My Fishing Cape Cod podcast! We have a very special guest for this podcast, so we are making this episode free to all listeners (in other words you don't have to be a member to listen-in).
Today, we welcome to the podcast Dr. Greg Skomal of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries to provide us with some insight on the increasing population of great white sharks in the waters surrounding Cape Cod.
There has been much speculation about the behavior of Cape Cod's great whites, especially with their newly discovered appetite for striped bass. In this podcast Greg discusses his scientific findings (and personal experiences) with these apex predators of the Atlantic.
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Ryan Collins
MFCC Founder
As always we first kick off this podcast episode with a call to MFCC founder Ryan Collins, who was preparing for a shoot for season #2 of My Fishing Cape Cod TV.
Ryan ​gives us a brief update about the MFCC Podcast, and warms us up for our main guest - Greg Skomal of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.
​Greg Skomal
​Massachuetts Divison of Marine Fisheries
Our special guest this week is none other than Dr. Greg Skomal. Greg has been studying the increasing great white shark population on Cape Cod for years.
​Greg provides us with a plethora of information on great white sharks, and how they've been interacting with Cape Cod's striped bass population. ​Additionally, Greg shares safety information to help keep you safe on the water.
In this podcast we will cover...
- ​Ryan's brief MFCC TV season #2 update (1:40)
- ​Welcoming Greg Skomal to the MFCC Podcast! (5:55)
- ​Range of great white sharks on Cape Cod & New England (7:20)
- ​Why these apex predators have been attacking striped bass (8:30)
- ​Greg's recent close encounter while tagging great whites (12:00)
- ​New insights and safety information from Greg (16:32)
Hi Greg,
As always, I enjoyed listening to your discussion. Do the White Sharks follow the seal migration up the Atlantic coast ? A group of us from MFCC were at Block Island in late May and there was a large (100 or more) group of seals that had taken over the Sandy Point area seemingly to use as a pupping ground. There were several extremely large males, smaller females, adolescents, and recently born pups all over the sand bar as well as in the surrounding water. One of the smaller seals had a fresh bite mark in the center of it’s back, indicating to us that there were White Sharks in the area. Also, where do the seals spend the time they are not on Cape Cod and when do they migrate ?
Great to know! It would be beneficial if number is seals could be controlled by allowed hunt or something….
I don’t know, Igor. I’m of the opinion that any natural problems are best remedied naturally. Even if originally caused by the shortsightedness of man. Nature will solve the problem on its own. Maybe inconvenient for us surfcasters at “The Race” for quite some time, but that’s just how it goes.
Great podcast! Glad I was able to share with friends! Thanks
Great info. Thank you Dr. Greg. Hope to see you again in Cataumet.