The state Department of Marine Resources says that for the first time, recent research reveals that multiple white sharks have been found in the same place, at the same time, off Scarborough Beach. The findings were revealed at a public forum in Saco on Monday, November 3, where state science and policy experts began a public conversation about the future of shark management in Maine.
About 25 people turned out to Saco City Hall to find out what the state's lone shark researcher has been learning about shark activity, especially that of federally protected white sharks, in Maine's coastal waters.
Matt Davis runs the state's white shark monitoring program, which was created in 2020 after Maine's first recorded fatal shark attack occurred near Bailey's Island, and is still in its early days.
Davis says not all the data from this season are available yet, but "2025 has been an interesting year so far."
Davis says for the first time, multiple white sharks were found in the same place, at the same time, off Scarborough Beach, which is unusual for an apex predator that tends to be pretty solitary.
"That was pretty exciting," Davis says. "We also saw a lot of extended activity at our site near Scarborough Beach. We actually saw maybe 30 days or more of activity, every day, in a row, which is something we haven't seen before."
Davis says in recent years, most of the white shark activity has been concentrated in eastern Casco Bay, near the tips of the Harpswell and Phippsburg peninsulas.
DMR tracks the movements of individual white sharks using acoustic telemetry, which relies on an array of underwater receivers strategically placed near populated sandy beaches. Every time an electronically tagged shark swims close enough to one, the date, time and location are transmitted.
Davis says from 2020-2024, around 100 tagged white sharks have been detected along the southwestern section of Maine's coast stretching from Ogunquit to Reid State Park. This year, researchers are added more monitoring stations to detect sharks roaming as far east as Cutler.
But, Davis points out, what this survey technology doesn't tell scientists is why white sharks, which are highly migratory, are showing up in a certain area. Or, what they're doing there.
That information gap surrounding shark behavior surfaced during the public discussion around future management and policy.
"The setting of policies and rules and laws, all too often in the past, has been set on opinion, feeling, concerns, without data," said Keith Bobrowiecki. "Without data is just another opinion."
Bobrowiecki is one of many recreational fishermen who like to fish for sharks from their boats, and from shore.
Right now, with the exception of spiny dogfish, catching and keeping coastal sharks in Maine waters is strictly prohibited, but catch and release is allowed.
And Bobrowiecki says he's worried that with the recent increase in white sharks, the state might further restrict rules for other kinds of sharks.
Wendy Lull, who says she likes to boogie board at Wells Beach, believes the state should take a more proactive and public-safety-minded approach to shark governance.
"I would say that shark fishing at beaches where people are swimming would seem like a really bad idea to me," Lull says.
DMR'S shark expert, Matt Davis, says the public discussion, and the conflicting opinions, are encouraging.
"This is how you come to decisions, right? You talk it out, and you figure out what is the best way forward and what research needs to be done," Davis says.
Nellie Hall, who says she has encountered many white sharks on fishing trips that she and her husband guide out of Scarborough, says she's glad that state regulators and scientists are starting this conversation in public. And that she's surprised by how sharks are still misunderstood.
"I definitely think we need to get more funding to understand behaviors," Hall says. "And I think we need to do a better job of kind of demystifying these animals, removing some of the fear, understanding behaviors that would attract sharks, because we have to share the oceans with them."
The DMR recently launched an interactive online portal where the public can explore the existing white shark data for Maine, and will host a second public forum on Thursday evening, November 6, from 6-8 p.m. at their office in West Boothbay Harbor and online.
