A 30-year-old boat captain from Long Island, New York was arraigned in Barnstable Superior Court on Wednesday after a grand jury indicted him on charges stemming from the alleged capture of a tagged great white shark off Cape Cod last October. Christopher Stefanou faces counts including cruelty to animals, illegal shark fishing, mechanical deployment of bait, attempting to capture a shark and possession of a protected species, and a judge set his bail at $10,000.
Days-Long Hunt Targeted a Known, Tagged Shark
According to WCVB, Cape & Islands District Attorney Robert Galibois announced the indictment and arraignment, saying Stefanou is accused of taking a European client on a days-long shark hunt along the Cape Cod shore. Galibois did not identify the client. The shark at the center of the case had been tagged and closely monitored by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries in collaboration with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, and was known to researchers as Aaron, capecod.com reports.
Per Galibois, Stefanou and his crew spent days hunting the shark during the October 2025 excursion along the Cape's eastern shore before dragging it onto a beach. The crew then celebrated and took photographs with the shark before releasing it, according to the same account. Investigators determined that prohibited equipment, including a drone, had been used in the operation.
A Social Media Post Tipped Off Investigators
Authorities were alerted to the alleged activity after Stefanou himself posted video footage of the capture on social media, the capecod.com report notes. That post ultimately became key evidence in building the case against him, though the exact platform or account used was not detailed in the announcement.
Massachusetts regulations prohibit shore-based shark fishing with equipment specifically designed to lure and capture large species of fish, including white sharks, in most waters surrounding Cape Cod, according to NBC Boston. The station reports those rules are designed in part to protect the public from practices that intentionally lure the animals closer to shore.
Bail Conditions and Court Dates
The judge ordered Stefanou to surrender his fishing license, remove the existing video from social media, and refrain from advertising, conditions tied to his $10,000 bail. NBC Boston also reported that he was ordered to stay out of Massachusetts. He is due back in Barnstable Superior Court on December 11.
The Cape & Islands District Attorney's Office emphasized that all defendants are presumed innocent, per capecod.com's report on the arraignment.
Why Cape Cod's White Sharks Draw So Much Attention
The case touches a population that researchers have spent years documenting along the Cape. More than 700 individual great white sharks have been logged in the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy's catalog since 2009, according to the Cape Cod Times. Researchers found that around 800 individual white sharks swam through Cape Cod waters between 2015 and 2018, and the conservancy's team tagged 25 sharks with acoustic transmitters during the 2024 season alone, the paper reported. Scientists have estimated that around two dozen white sharks can be in Cape waters at any given time during the season, per the same report.
