OT: it was just a matter of time

[Chin Diesel]

Because swimming at the Y is too boring I guess

What do these idiots in the ocean think they’re doing

People have the illusion and grandeur of equivalency swimming in open water with predators. Humans are literally the worst equipped species to be in the water against predators (fresh or salt). If you ain't swimming with a boom stick, rearview mirrors and a large knife, you can die at any time a predator wants you to die. Sharks, gators, crocs, hippos, etc.

 

[August_West]

Absolutely terrible situation and really feel for the family. You are also making it sound like Cape Cod has a shark epidemic...this is the first fatality in 82 years and there have only been 2 total non-fatal incidents in the last 20.

It’s the second attack in 4 weeks. The guy who was eaten 4 weeks ago was life starred into Boston and is STILL in hospital.
Numbers have been increasing yearly for last decade and they are increasingly spotted closer to shore. They are hitting kayaks , surfboards and paddle boards.
So yeah, I don’t think it’s hyperbole at this point Cape Cod actually does in fact have a shark epidemic. Adults are free to make their own decisions but any parent who lets a kid swim those waters after July is negligent.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Marine mammal protection act drove the seal population to explode. Now the white shark population is rising in response. That’s how it’s supposed to work.

Seems pretty clear that the Bay has become a pupping ground. Big increase in sharks taking fish off of lines. That’s the prey for juveniles not adults. At this time of year, they seem to be moving to the ocean side. Several recent videos of 10-12 ft juveniles just a few yards off Nauset. So even the shallows are not safe. Boogyboarding is just idiotic.

My sister is good friends with a couple at Woods Hole who are part of the ongoing study. She’s visiting them next weekend and I asked her to get their view of things for me.

 

[auggie22]

This is just the beginning. Many charter guys are having white sharks come up, follow the boat and take stripers as they are being reeled in inside Cape Cod Bay. Many of these have been 9-10 footers so they can come clsoe to shore with no problem in the bay. Smart people don't jump off the boat to go swimming anymore. Paddle boarders and kayakers are also going to get hit eventually in the bay. There were sharks taking seals inside 30 feet from shore on the ocean side all summer long. This is first and foremost a shark problem and they need to be culled. There are most likely 400 plus off the Cape based on the research info coming in. Figuring out what to do with the seals should come later. Yes the sharks have always been there but the close to shore sightings weren't through the 90's. The surfers are going to have to wait till late November when the sharks migrate south.

I picture you saying this in your best Quint voice.

 

[HuskyHawk]

This is just the beginning. Many charter guys are having white sharks come up, follow the boat and take stripers as they are being reeled in inside Cape Cod Bay. Many of these have been 9-10 footers so they can come clsoe to shore with no problem in the bay. Smart people don't jump off the boat to go swimming anymore. Paddle boarders and kayakers are also going to get hit eventually in the bay. There were sharks taking seals inside 30 feet from shore on the ocean side all summer long. This is first and foremost a shark problem and they need to be culled. There are most likely 400 plus off the Cape based on the research info coming in. Figuring out what to do with the seals should come later. Yes the sharks have always been there but the close to shore sightings weren't through the 90's. The surfers are going to have to wait till late November when the sharks migrate south.

It's a seal problem that created a shark problem. Both species are federally protected so there is no chance of a cull and it wouldn't be appropriate. Limited cull of the seals would be the right place to start.

But the reality is, like South Africa, Western Australia and much of California, we now have a permanent, seasonal White Shark population. The main problem for people is that the ocean side beaches on the upper cape have (a) a huge seal population and (b) a physical beach that becomes deep very rapidly. Going in above thigh depth there is simply unwise from about mid July to October. No shark concerns so far on Nantucket Sound beaches. The shallow bay side beaches are fine, but the channels, such are near Cold Storage in Dennis, and the water off the jetty, are not safe. The juvenile white sharks in the Bay are chasing fish, not seals and can be drawn into those waters. The juveniles are also worse at identifying natural prey items.

But sharks don't seem to prevent people from swimming in Florida, where there are far more attacks.

 

[HawkHusky]

I only go into ocean water where I can see my feet.

 

[August_West]

But sharks don't seem to prevent people from swimming in Florida, where there are far more attacks.

White Sharks are a different type of attack than the numerous attacks in Fla.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Are we seriously wondering if the ocean's & climate are warmer? It is not really worth providing evidence at this point.

Feeling the Heat in the NW Atlantic

 

[Exit 4]

This situation is going to spread. The seals will start moving south and the sharks a will follow.... over the next 30 years. Block Island had seals this year. Yikes.

As for the outer cape, swimming is a roll of the dice and that will have some long term economic consequences that put certain groups against one another. I guess it’s fine to give up the outer cape to the sharks and seals, but I will be annoyed if we give up Block island, Montauk and other points where seals may come to colonize as there numbers grow.

 

[uconnric]

It's a seal problem that created a shark problem. Both species are federally protected so there is no chance of a cull and it wouldn't be appropriate. Limited cull of the seals would be the right place to start.

But the reality is, like South Africa, Western Australia and much of California, we now have a permanent, seasonal White Shark population. The main problem for people is that the ocean side beaches on the upper cape have (a) a huge seal population and (b) a physical beach that becomes deep very rapidly. Going in above thigh depth there is simply unwise from about mid July to October. No shark concerns so far on Nantucket Sound beaches. The shallow bay side beaches are fine, but the channels, such are near Cold Storage in Dennis, and the water off the jetty, are not safe. The juvenile white sharks in the Bay are chasing fish, not seals and can be drawn into those waters. The juveniles are also worse at identifying natural prey items.

But sharks don't seem to prevent people from swimming in Florida, where there are far more attacks.

The Nantucket Sound beaches, Craigville, etc. don't have the seal population that attracts the sharks. Seals have been seen on the outer Cape beaches for awhile now. I believe there have also been shark sightings in Cape Cod Bay.

 

[pj]

Are we seriously wondering if the ocean's & climate are warmer? It is not really worth providing evidence at this point.

Feeling the Heat in the NW Atlantic

Did you read the article? It says nothing at all about what has happened. It is only about what "climate models project." Quoting: "Climate models project that bottom temperatures in the Atlantic along the U.S. East Coast may rise by up to 4.3 °C (7.7 °F) by the end of the century."

This is no evidence at all about what is happening or has happened.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Obviously swimming in the ocean when sharks are around is dangerous and you are playing a reverse odds lottery. But statistically speaking not swimming due to sharks is kind of like not flying out of fear of an airplane accident. Drowning is WAYYY more likely to kill you (so is driving to the beach etc..) and sharks aren't even near the top-10 of animals that kill people. Its the fear and mysterious vulnerability of being in the water that freaks people out about shark attacks and maybe that Jaws is one of the best movies ever.

1. Wear mosquito repellant wherever you go, probably net around your entire body
2. Avoid other humans
3. Get rid of your dogs
4. Don't order the escargot

These are the world's deadliest animals

 

[Dogdeacon]

Did you read the article? It says nothing at all about what has happened. It is only about what "climate models project." Quoting: "Climate models project that bottom temperatures in the Atlantic along the U.S. East Coast may rise by up to 4.3 °C (7.7 °F) by the end of the century."

This is no evidence at all about what is happening or has happened.

I'm not biting, there's thousands of articles and scientific research on the topic, global organizations, local initiatives. I think it'd be more on point to discuss how political ideology shapes one's viewpoints about totally unrelated issues and that also is unlikely to be discussed in an objective manner.

 

[Exit 4]

Obviously swimming in the ocean when sharks are around is dangerous and you are playing a reverse odds lottery. But statistically speaking not swimming due to sharks is kind of like not flying out of fear of an airplane accident. Drowning is WAYYY more likely to kill you (so is driving to the beach etc..) and sharks aren't even near the top-10 of animals that kill people. Its the fear and mysterious vulnerability of being in the water that freaks people out about shark attacks and maybe that Jaws is one of the best movies ever.

1. Wear mosquito repellant wherever you go, probably net around your entire body
2. Avoid other humans
3. Get rid of your dogs
4. Don't order the escargot

These are the world's deadliest animals

This reads exactly like someone that has not been to Nauset beach and read any of the dozens of shark incidents over the years. Shark attacks at a national level, not scary. Shark attacks in waters that are brimming with known shark populations...totally different. The outer cape is now loaded with sharks. We are talking about an environment much more akin to Yellowstone and bears vs southeast CT and bears.

 

[Jaker]

There has been like one fatal attack in 30 years. Don't sweat it.

 

[HuskyHawk]

White Sharks are a different type of attack than the numerous attacks in Fla.

Absolutely, but not necessarily worse than what you'd experience with a large Bull shark for example. And easier to avoid if you are smart.

 

[Dogdeacon]

This reads exactly like someone that has not been to Nauset beach and read any of the dozens of shark incidents over the years. Shark attacks at a national level, not scary. Shark attacks in waters that are brimming with known shark populations...totally different. The outer cape is now loaded with sharks. We are talking about an environment much more akin to Yellowstone and bears vs southeast CT and bears.

WTF does where I've been have to do with the # of sharks, and shark attacks vs mosquitos on the earth? I've never been to Africa (technically I've been to Morocco, but I don't think that truly counts) but I know there are mosquitos there. I have been to Nauset Beach (not where this happened by the way?!), Newcomb Hollow, Cahoun Hollow, the Beachcomber, Coast Guard Beach, Marconi, Longnook, Ballston, Great Pond, Long Pond, Gull Pond and only the latter 3 I'd say are safe from sharks. Totally besides the point though.

 

[2Infinity]

Rising water temps are also part of the problem

Sharks Are Creeping Into the Northeast Because of Climate Change

From your article, as the author states, there is no certainty as to temperature's influence in this, if any. Food source, on the other hand, is an obvious reason for the population increase.

While these two factors were correlated, it doesn’t necessarily mean that increased water temperature caused northward shark migration. Instead, Kajiura wrote, the sharks could also be “following their food,” which would be subject to the same temperature-based pressures.

 

[CL82]

Thats a junk article from a junk website. And no one is even sure of the species of shark involved yet. So you don’t know if it was one indigenous to that area.

The article specifically denies a causation link and describe the sharks found as being young and "cute."

More likely, as others intended, this is untended consequence of the effort to protect and encourage the seal population.

 

[storrsroars]

From your article, as the author states, there is no certainty as to temperature's influence in this, if any. Food source, on the other hand, is an obvious reason for the population increase.

While these two factors were correlated, it doesn’t necessarily mean that increased water temperature caused northward shark migration. Instead, Kajiura wrote, the sharks could also be “following their food,” which would be subject to the same temperature-based pressures.

If the food is migrating northwards because the water stays warmer there due to climate change and the sharks follow the food...

Critical thinking is a good skill to have.

 

[superjohn]

Deepster doesn't believe the water is getting warmer. Bwahahahahaha, I love this place.

 

[pj]

If the food is migrating northwards because the water stays warmer there due to climate change and the sharks follow the food...

Critical thinking is a good skill to have.

Seals are their food and the seals have been migrating southward, not northward. The reason is their protected status, not the water temperature.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Seals are their food and the seals have been migrating southward, not northward. The reason is their protected status, not the water temperature.

I suspect that the seals will be moving because their numbers out-strip the available food supply. The fish populations around the Cape have taken a huge hit. Seals eat between 6-8% of their bodyweight in fish every day. Average weight is around 500 pounds There are probably 10,000-15,000+ seals in and around Chatham, Monomoy and the outer Cape. Sooner or later those seals are going to go where there are more fish and the sharks will follow.

 

[Uconn77Duke74]

I know an old lady who swallowed a fly...

 

[August_West]

Other benefit will be the bass fishery will come back to the way it once was.

I kinda like that the Sharks pushed all the monster Stripers my way...............

Westbrook CT. Home of the biggest Stripers in the world.

CT does Pizza right, Lobster Rolls right and Stripers right. That about sums up our state.