Great white shark ‘Bob’ reappears off Cape Cod

A great white shark tracked by researchers was detected Sunday off the coast of Cape Cod.

Named “Bob,” the 1,400-pound, 13-foot adult male was first tagged by marine research group OCEARCH off the coast of Nova Scotia in September 2021, according to a post by the group on Facebook.

He last came on OCEARCH’s radar in November when he “pinged” near Jacksonville, Florida.

“After nearly 10 months without a location ping … Bob pinged in this afternoon off Nantucket Island, Massachusetts,” OCEARCH wrote on its Facebook page Sunday. “We’re excited to hear from Bob again and hope he continues to come to the surface and share his location with us!”

Bob’s reemergence came amid roughly 20 other confirmed white shark sightings near Cape Cod between Sunday and Monday, according to data from the Sharktivity app.

Sharks have been making headlines for all the wrong reasons this summer.

Six people were victims of shark attacks off the coast of Long Island, New York, in three weeks spanning from late June to mid-July. None of the attacks led to serious injuries.

In those instances, scientists credit the successful conservation efforts of a certain kind of bait fish for bringing more shark activity to New York’s beaches.

Sharks typically migrate to southern waters in the winter and then spread out to northern waters by late spring, according to marine biologists.

The website Tracking Sharks reported that there have been 34 shark attacks in the U.S. this year, with the most (19) occurring in Florida. New York has the second most at six.