7News joins spotter pilot to track sharks off Chatham

CHATHAM, Mass. (WHDH) -- 7News was off the waters in Chatham when a shark was tagged by experts from the Division of State Fisheries and Wildlife on Tuesday.

7’s Steve Cooper joined 68-year-old George Breen, a spotter pilot for the Cape Cod Shark Hunters. Breen said seeing this many sharks is pretty rare.

“I don’t know what kind of interaction we’re going to have here -- you’ve got surfers, seals and sharks and swimmers all in the same waters,” said Breen.

Breen looks from above and radios to the boat below before they tag the sharks.

“Last four years we’ve been looking for them and we’re been seeing them, but I’ve flew here a lot and never saw them,” said Breen.

Tuesday’s tagging of another shark coupled with the viral photo of a shark stalking a kayaker from over the weekend leaves some beach goers feeling jittery.

“We’re looking before we go in the water,” said Dave Traphagen. “No fins, no large dark shapes or anything.”

The woman who took the photo of the shark and kayaker spoke out.

“I was thinking, ‘Go, go, go, go. Hurry up. Just get out of the water,’ as soon as he hit the shallows he turned around and the guy jumped off like nobody’s business, ” said Shelly Negrotti. “It was amazing. It was amazing to be able to capture it on film.”

Breen said the sharks may be looking for seals, but swimmers and surfers still need to be careful.

“We’re doing these survey flights everyday so we keep the harbormasters alert if there’s any shark sightings and just use caution,” said Breen.

Breen said spotter pilots will be up in the skies along the coast of the Cape for the next several weeks. At this point, Breen said, they will do whatever it takes to keep beach goers and swimmers safe through the summer.