Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Great White Sharks Are Swarming Cape Cod and It’s the Government’s Fault

June 20, 2015 — CAPE COD, Mass. — 40 years ago, Jaws terrified beach-goers from swimming too far from the shore. Now, in real life, great white sharks are filling the waters off Cape Cod.

Forty years ago this month, Jaws, Peter Benchley’s best-selling toothy fish tale, was made into an iconic movie that helped usher in a new era of blockbuster films. Set in a fictional New England town, it told the tale of a bloodthirsty great white shark that developed a taste for humans and a penchant for gory mischief. Filmed primarily on Martha’s Vineyard, off the coast of Cape Cod, the irony was that while sharks such as the porbeagle, thresher, tiger, and mako were abundant, great whites were relatively a rare encounter.Fast-forward forty years, and that is no longer the case. Great whites are now in abundance in the waters around Cape Cod. These regular seasonal visitors have reached the point of tourist attraction, drawing throngs to the Cape’s sandy beaches in hopes of a glimpse of one of the toothy beasts. Even with an uptick in attacks—several have been reported in recent years—the community vibe is more welcoming than menacing.

“If anything I’ve noticed, among the business community of the town of Chatham, which is the epicenter of white shark activity, they’ve embraced these animals as a way to make money and draw people to the town,” says Dr. Greg Skomal, a senior biologist with the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries department, leading expert on these apex predators, and essentially the New England great white guru. “Virtually every shop on Main Street is selling some kind of shark trinket or shirt, you name it. I think it’s been a positive response, one of people trying to embrace these animals.”

Read the full story at The Daily Beast 

 

http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dmf/contact-information/skomal-dr-greg.html

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2014/09/04/year-the-shark-all-the-local-sightings-and-attacks/5NuvvxKTPe09pVxS4M0JbO/story.html

http://www.livescience.com/27338-great-white-sharks.html

Experts: Shark attacks ‘extremely rare’ in New England

June 19, 2015 — LOWELL, Mass. — While news of a shark attack tends to heighten beachgoers’ fear of the ocean predators, swimmers in New England don’t have much to worry about, officials say.

“The chance of incidents with sharks in New England waters is extremely rare,” said Tony LaCasse, a spokesman for the New England Aquarium.

Fears of shark attacks on the East Cost rose this week following an incident in Oak Island, N.C., on Sunday. Two young people were injured in separate shark attacks, both in waist-deep water. A 12-year-old girl lost part of her arm and suffered a leg injury, and a 16-year-old boy lost his arm, according to The Associated Press.

Though an attack makes headlines, people have been injured by sharks New England waters only a handful of times in decades.

People help Kiersten Yow, 12, of Asheboro, after she was bitten by a shark in Oak Island, N.C., Sunday. She lost her left arm below her elbow. Such attacks are rare in New England. Steve Bouser/The Pilot, Southern Pines, N.C. via AP

Only three people have been injured by a shark in Massachusetts since 1936, according to the International Shark Attack File, the official capacity for collecting such data. The 1936 incident was the state’s only fatal attack, the according to the data, which has been collected since 1837.

Injuries are rare, but sightings can be more common. Last summer shark sightings occurred in coastal areas including Duxbury. From Chatham to Provincetown, there were 19 shark sightings last year, according to Leslie Reynolds, the chief ranger at the Cape Cod National Seashore. In September a shark approached two women in kayaks off the coast of Plymouth. The shark bit one of the kayaks, subsequently knocking the women into the water, state police said in a statement. Neither kayaker was injured.

Read the full story at Lowell Sun News