Marshfield adds shark detecting buoys to town beaches

MARSHFIELD, Mass. — Towns along the South Shore are tracking the growing number of sharks.

The Marshfield Harbormaster is deploying shark detecting buoys near the town's busiest beaches. The buoys have technology that tracks sharks that were tagged by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.

"These buoys are close to the beach, 250 yards off the beach, actually. The buoy gives you a radius at 25 yards each way so we are looking at a 50-yard radius of any shark that comes by the buoy," said Marshfield Harbormaster Mike DiMeo.

DiMeo says the sharks seem to be more prevalent on the South Shore. From 2017 to 2018, there was a 1,100% increase in tagged shark detections.

"It's a cause for concern, I mean. The last thing you want to do is close the beaches," DiMeo said.

The Harbormasters in many South Shore towns are sharing their data with each other and using the information to better understand where the sharks are coming and going.

"We want to do our part to protect people at the beach and inform people what is going on," said DiMeo.

Right now, the shark detection buoys record the information that has to be downloaded.

"Each buoy has to be pulled on deck and uploaded to a computer to see if there is actually a detection," he said.

In the future, Marshfield would like to add technology that would allow them to get the shark detection data remotely.

"I think everyone should be informed of how many sharks are out there, sharks swimming by," said DiMeo.

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