How To Get 'Shark Smart' On Cape Cod
CHATHAM (CBS) - With more and more shark sightings and beach closures on Cape Cod this summer, Meteorologist Sarah Wroblewski traveled to Chatham to show you where you can get shark smart this summer.
"The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy (AWSC) is a non-profit here, based in Chatham on Cape Cod and we are dedicated in funding and conducting white shark research," Marianne Long, the education director for the AWSC, told WBZ-TV.
"Then using what we're learning about these animals on our coastline to inform public safety officials or people that are managing our beaches… and then really working in education… trying to connect the public with what is taking place off our coastline here," Long said. "And engage them and develop their understanding of what kind of opportunity we have to learn about white sharks."
At the Shark Center, there are a number of hands-on exhibits for any age.
"It's funny because I feel like that we have actually learned that this is a place where adults there inner child comes out because they like sharks so much and some of our exhibits we have designed for youth like our shark fossil bin, where kids can actually find their own shark tooth, they can excavate that out and identify what species of shark that came from… but we see just as many adults digging in our fossil bin as we do the children," Long explained.
"And I think one of our big hits is our virtual reality exhibit… so where family members can actually put on a headset and go on a dive with hammerhead and nurse sharks down in the Bahamas and they get to see up close what it's like when a shark is swimming by. And it just gives people more of that encounter where they get to see the natural beauty of these animals and how they actually behave in their natural environment and I think that is one of the pieces that has a lasting impact on our visitors."
Whether visitors are playing games, taking pictures or testing their shark knowledge, they learn about one of Cape Cod's most captivating Summer residents, the Great White Shark, and groundbreaking research off our coast.
"We have a lot of visitors who come through here and one of the first questions that they ask is, 'is the boat out today?' because people hear it and get the snip-its of what's going on through social media… or on the news but this allows them to get a bigger picture," Long said.
The Shark Center is currently in their fourth season. They had 16,000 visitors last year, and expect more this year.
The center is offering free admission this Friday, August 2, 2019. For information you can visit their website.