Great white shark patrols Cape Cod

updated 12:33 p.m. ET Sept. 26, 2004

FALMOUTH, Mass. - Researchers put a satellite tracking device on a 15-foot shark that appeared to be lost in shallow water off Cape Cod, the first time a great white has been tagged that way in the Atlantic.

The device, attached Thursday using a 6-foot spear, will let scientists monitor the animal, which has apparently spent days in a somewhat enclosed area in the Elizabeth Islands.

The shark was first spotted Tuesday, and officials hope it can return to open water on its own. Otherwise, researchers may try to drive it there, said Gregory Skomal, a shark specialist with the state’s marine fisheries division.

“Hopefully it won’t come to that,” Skomal told The Cape Cod Times for Friday’s editions.

Great whites are common in deep waters south of Martha’s Vineyard, but rarely venture so close to the mainland, though sightings have increased as the seal population has rebounded in recent years.

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