In 2018, a swimmer on Cape Cod was killed in an attack by a great white shark, the first deadly shark attack on the Cape in 80 years. The nation’s leading expert on patterns and behaviors of great white sharks is a renowned Boston University scientist named Greg Skomal, who is quoted almost daily throughout the summer by local and national media on the habits of white sharks. This collision of tragedy, tourism, and scientific expertise was behind a series of five stories we produced before the 2019 summer, in which we examined the impact great white sharks would continue to have on one of America’s greatest tourist destinations, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Each story explored a different question, such as: Will vacationers keep coming back if they’re nervous about lurking great whites? Will some people migrate toward the safety of the kettle ponds and away from the ocean? Are there new technologies that might prevent future attacks?
From the Judges
We were taken with this five-part series’ pleasing mix of human-interest storytelling, service journalism, and scientific reporting. While making good use of Boston University’s in-house experts, the stories in this package serve to educate the community at-large about the impact of recent shark attacks on everything from the local tourism industry to the fragile ecosystems of nearby National Seashore kettle ponds. One judge liked how “lively quotes break up the deeply researched narrative.” Another judge commented on the website’s “bright, white-and-pastel color scheme,’’ which “imparted a ‘beachy’ feel that made the series feel fun and summery despite the serious subject matter.”
