Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Tuesday 29 augusT 2017

Sharks rattle nerves on Cape Cod, but attacks on humans rare

BY BOB SALSBERG A current year tally won’t
ASSOCIATED PRESS be available until fall, but
BOSTON (AP) -- You can’t he said there was evidence
blame beachgoers on that great whites were
Cape Cod for being jit- spreading out to cover
tery after a spate of recent most of the Cape’s eastern
shark sightings, some just coast.
a bit too close for comfort Ronald Beaty, a county
but all part of a natural commissioner, cited “a
ecosystem that scientists clear and present danger
say humans must accept. to human life,” while sug-
Last Wednesday, just off gesting last week that bait-
Marconi Beach in Well- ed drum lines be used to
fleet, a white shark took a capture and then kill great
bite out of a paddleboard, whites. The suggestion
throwing its rider into the drew swift and widespread
water. Cleveland Bigelow condemnation from sci-
wasn’t injured but com- entists and conservation-
pared the impact to that of ists. The Barnstable County
a motorcycle being hit by Commission has no plans to
a truck. discuss such an idea.
Two days earlier at Nauset In 2015, the state Division of
Beach in Orleans - also just In this Aug. 24, 2017 photo, a shark advisory is posted at Marconi Beach in Wellfleet, Mass. Marine Fisheries issued reg-
feet from shore - a white Associated Press ulations prohibiting people
shark fed on a seal, turning ing ashore on any beach, last fatal attack recorded case,” said Greg Skomal, a without special permits
the sea red with blood. Ter- people should stay out of in Massachusetts was in state biologist in Massachu- from attracting or captur-
rified swimmers and surfers the water there. It’s just 1936. setts who has studied white ing white sharks through
fled the water. common sense.” No fatal shark attacks were sharks closely. activities such as cage
On Thursday, shark sight- White sharks, often called reported in the U.S. in 2016, July saw far fewer shark diving, baiting or feeding.
ings prompted the closure great whites, were around or so far in 2017. sightings than a year ago, Shark advisory signs are
of Race Point Beach in millions of years before hu- The most recent unpro- possibly due to a cooler posted at some beaches
Provincetown to swimming mans, but only recently voked attack of any kind spring in the Northeast, and shark brochures are
for about two hours. have the fearsome crea- prior to last week’s paddle- he said. Shark activity has available at visitor centers.
Shark experts preach vigi- tures been catalogued in board incident occurred since picked up in August. Skomal noted one possibly
lance and respect. After large numbers off Cape Aug. 10 off Hilton Head, Skomal spoke recently reassuring aspect to the
all, it’s their habitat, not Cod during the summer. South Carolina. A 13-year- while boarding a research blood-in-the-water inci-
ours. Researchers say they’re old swimmer suffered mi- vessel in Chatham for a dent at Nauset Beach.
“We are the interloper in likely attracted by a seal nor cuts to his foot, possibly twice weekly shark survey, “We had people who were
the ocean,” said Marie population that has ex- from a blacktip shark, ac- aided by a spotter plane. surfing, we had swimmers,
Levine, executive director ploded since the 1972 fed- cording to an incident log Dozens of animals have and we had a shark attack
of the Princeton, New Jer- eral Marine Mammal Pro- kept by the Global Shark been tagged with elec- a seal among them all,” he
sey-based Shark Research tection Act, though addi- Attack File. tronic tracking devices so said.
Institute, the nation’s oldest tional factors could include “I know people are per- their migratory behavior “That’s a level of selection
shark conservation organi- changes in ocean currents ceiving this as a banner can be studied. that we need to realize.
zation. and the depletion of other year and that sharks are Skomal’s team identified The shark decided the seal
“White sharks prey on seals. food sources by overfishing. increasing and everything, 80 sharks off Cape Cod in was the prey item.”
Seals come ashore,” said Statistically, risks to people but when we look at the 2014, 141 the following year “But sharks do make mis-
Levine. “So if seals are com- from sharks remain low. The hard numbers that’s not the and 146 in 2016. takes,” he added.q