A lobsterman in Maine is getting attention after sharing a video of his encounter with a group of great white sharks.
What’s happening?
“There were like six or seven fins, probably within a couple hundred yards of the boat in every direction,” Corey Hawkes told News Center Maine. “Right in the middle of the bay.”
Hawkes caught it all on video and reported it to the Department of Marine Resources. That agency has seen an increase in the number of white sharks off Maine’s coast in recent years. The state reported 1,700 detected in 2023, a jump from the previous year’s 1,042.
Why are shark sightings important?
As shark sightings become more frequent, so do shark attacks. In 2024, there were 28 unprovoked shark attacks reported in the United States, one of which was fatal. That’s considered low compared to previous years since 2012, but the U.S. still leads the world in the annual number of shark attacks.
Sharks are more likely to come into contact with humans as their habitats are destroyed by climate change and human activity. And as global temperatures warm, great whites are expanding their range.
The species prefers temperate to subtropical waters of 50 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, migrating from Maine to the Caribbean on the east coast and from Alaska to Hawaii in the west during cold months. But if warming trends continue, they could extend their search for breeding grounds toward the poles to find adequate temperatures.
What’s being done about shark habitat destruction?
Right now, white sharks are shown on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List as “vulnerable.” Federally, the Shark Conservation Act was signed into law in 2011, and the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act was signed in 2023. On a state level, California has listed white sharks as “protected” since 1994, meaning they can’t be taken if caught while fishing.
As for Corey Hawkes, he’s avoiding setting foot anywhere a shark might be.
“Me personally, if I do go swimming—and everyone picks on me for it—I generally wear a wetsuit,” Hawkes told News Center Maine. “Now I’m thinkin’, I ain’t going in no wetsuit anymore. Not gonna take any chances and make myself look more like a piece of food than I already do.”
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