Why It Seems Like Great White Sharks Are Overrunning Maine | WIREDSkip to main contentTHE WIRED APP IS HEREDOWNLOAD NOW »MenuWIREDSECURITYPOLITICSTHE BIG STORYBUSINESSSCIENCECULTUREREVIEWSMenuWIREDAccountAccountNewslettersSecurityPoliticsThe Big StoryBusinessScienceCultureReviewsChevronMoreExpandThe Big InterviewMagazineEventsWIRED InsiderWIRED ConsultingNewslettersPodcastsVideoLivestreamsWIRED StoreSearchSearchMolly TaftScienceSep 16, 2026 5:15 AMWhy It Seems Like Great White Sharks Are Overrunning MaineA bunch of sharks cruising the Maine coast may seem ominous, but it’s actually a conservation success story.Photograph: Getty ImagesCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyLifeguard Greg Wilfert was swimming off the coast of Scarborough, Maine, in August when he was yanked underwater by a force tugging on his rescue buoy. Wilfert, a lifeguard of 55 years, told local news outlet WFSB that he first thought he’d gotten caught on a boat propeller, but the real culprit was a great white shark.The incident is one in a long line of great white sightings off the coast of Maine this year. It was a busy summer for shark sightings along the rest of the East Coast, but Maine, in particular, seems to have had a great white bonanza. A dozen sightings were reported in a two-day period near Pine Point Beach in southern Maine in August. Beaches were temporarily closed all over the state following multiple sightings throughout July and August. The sharks followed beachgoers through the end of summer: A great white was spotted off Wells Beach over Labor Day weekend, while a fisherman caught another on the holiday about 30 miles down the coast.The waters off the coast of Maine are some of the world’s fastest-warming, and the Atlantic has seen a series of marine heat waves. The El Niño weather phenomenon is only boosting global heat further. But experts told WIRED that the reason for our recent glut of shark encounters is a lot more complicated than just attributing them to climate change, especially when it comes to great whites. Instead, a successful conservation effort decades ago is likely starting to pay dividends, coupled with more people bringing technology that can spot sharks to the beach.When Steven Spielberg’s classic movie Jaws came out in 1975, great whites were in trouble. The species had declined in waters off both the east and west coasts of the US thanks to overfishing, bycatch, and trophy hunting. In the 1990s, federal protections were instated for both the sharks and for gray seals, one of their key prey species.Maine’s state shark monitoring system uses a technology called acoustic telemetry, which outfits the animal with a tag that emits a unique electronic signature. Underwater stations can then pick up on that signal and log the tagged sharks, helping track their movement up and down the coast. Maine’s program is less than a decade old, and “not every shark is tagged,” says Matthew Davis, a shark expert at Maine’s Department of Natural Resources. That makes pinpointing exactly what is going on with this uptick in sightings a little more challenging.But Davis and Walter Golet, an associate professor at the University of Maine School of Marine Science who collaborates on shark research, both believe that there were more great whites off the coast this summer compared to decades past. They attribute it in part to federal protections working. Great whites males take 26 years to reach adulthood, while females can take up to 33 years. That timeframe aligns with when federal protections were put in place and could help explain why more sharks are showing up off of Maine. Research generally backs this up: Multiple studies have found that protections for both sharks and seals helped to increase populations along the East Coast.While climate change has driven massive changes in the ocean, including pushing many species northward as waters warm, its direct effect on great white sharks is a little more murky. Some research has suggested that great whites could suffer from very hot ocean temperatures by causing them to overheat and forcing them to slow down or move to colder water to seek food. But James Sulikowski, the director of the Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station at Oregon State University, emphasizes that great whites can control their body temperature, which enables them to withstand much larger ranges in ocean temperatures than other shark species.“They’re not so subject to these huge fluctuations—they’re really good regulators,” he says.Davis says that the knock-on effects of climate change—like warmer ocean temperatures changing certain prey species’ habitat range—are more likely to impact great whites than the hotter ocean temperatures do. Prey species may “hang around a little bit longer because the water is going to be a little bit warmer,” he says, which could mean great whites spend more time in areas they previously would’ve been in for only a few months.Another indirect impact of climate change: more people at the beach during hot days. And, since it’s 2026, more and more people bring equipment, from iPhones to hobby drones, that can capture high-quality footage of marine life. All three experts say that the raft of shark sightings in Maine this summer may just be a result of people going outside with better, more technologically advanced eyes on the ocean.“There are more of them, but they are also easier to see, so you have to untangle that,” says Golet. “I think we’re all sort of a prisoner of our own timeline.”CommentsBack to topJoin the discussionCommentsBack to topTriangleYou Might Also LikeIn your inbox: WIRED's most ambitious, future-defining storiesAI slop backlash is actually having an impactBig Story: The cop who took on FlockThe rise of the 1am job interviewWatch: I stole a car by hacking this hidden deviceMolly Taft is a senior writer for WIRED, covering climate change, energy, and the environment. Previously, they were a reporter and editor at Drilled, an investigative climate multimedia reporting project. Before that, they wrote about climate change and technology for Gizmodo, and served as a contributing editor for the New ... 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The apparent overrunning of the Maine coast by great white sharks is presented not as a purely alarming event, but as a manifestation of a multifaceted conservation success story intertwined with broader environmental and technological shifts. A specific incident involving a lifeguard being pulled underwater by a great white occurred in August, highlighting the presence of these predators in the region. This year has seen a notable increase in shark sightings along the Maine coast, with multiple reports occurring in a short period near Pine Point Beach, prompting temporary closures of beaches across the state.

The context for these sightings is rooted in the changing marine environment. The waters off Maine are experiencing significant warming due to marine heat waves and the influence of the El Niño weather phenomenon, which is being amplified by global climate change. While some theories suggest that rising ocean temperatures might cause great whites to slow down or seek cooler waters, experts caution that great whites possess the physiological ability to regulate their body temperature, allowing them to withstand broader thermal fluctuations. Instead, researchers suggest that the indirect effects of climate change, such as changes in the habitat ranges of prey species, may be a more significant driver affecting great white distribution than the immediate temperature increase itself.

Conservation efforts implemented decades prior are also believed to contribute to the current population dynamics. Following declines caused by overfishing, bycatch, and trophy hunting, federal protections were established for both sharks and their prey, such as gray seals, in the 1990s. This historical context suggests that the current presence of great whites may be influenced by these protective measures, which have been shown in related research to boost populations along the East Coast. Maine employs a state shark monitoring system utilizing acoustic telemetry, which tags sharks to track their movements, although this system is not exhaustive, meaning not every shark is currently tagged, which complicates the exact quantification of recent changes.

Furthermore, the increase in observed shark encounters may be exacerbated by technological advancements among the public. The proliferation of modern equipment, such as smartphones and hobby drones, allows more people to capture high-quality footage of marine life. Experts suggest that the observable increase in shark sightings is partly a result of these improved technological capabilities, which enable a wider range of individuals to document and share observations, leading to a situation where the public is observing more sharks, albeit with better tools to analyze the data. In summary, the current situation regarding great white sightings off Maine appears to be a complex interaction between historical regulatory success, the subtle ecological pressures of climate change impacting prey distribution, and the increased observational capacity afforded by modern technology.