Posted on 07/08/2012 6:40:27 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
Nauset beach was evacuated Saturday afternoon when a 12 to 14-foot shark was spotted only 100 feet out.
A great white's dorsal fin cut through the top of the water as it cruised the shoreline.
“All of a sudden, we saw this person in a kayak, and we saw a fin 10 feet from it,” said Lizzy Jenkins.
Everyone else in the water immediately ran onto the beach.
“We started swimming and people on the shore started waiving us in,” said Christina Proulx.
They all watched as a kayaker was seemingly stalked by the shark.
“There were hundreds of people on the beach, and they were all at the edge, yelling paddle paddle, paddle!” said Dave Alexander.
“Everyone was screaming, ‘shark,’”said Haley O’Brien. Then the guy noticed and everyone started screaming shark, and he started paddling coming towards the shore.
Everyone was screaming at Walter Szulc, Jr. It was his first time kayaking.
He didn't see the people run from the water. He didn't hear them yelling, either.
He had no idea what was lurking a few feet behind him.
“So I looked behind me and that's when I saw the shark, it was pretty much right there, I got a glimpse of it. It was a good size and it had a fin sticking out, so I just turned and paddled,” said Szulc.
(Excerpt) Read more at 1.whdh.com ...
My daughter and family left for the Cape on Friday. They’re in Dennisport....west of the shark sightings...but not far enough west for me.
For anyone who would appreciate a historical approach to the topic....Close to the Shore is a great book which covers a shark attack period in 1916 along the Jersey shore.
There are plenty of baskers around this year and also many whites.
Eighteen white sharks have been tagged in the Chatham area the last few years. Obviously there are more white sharks swimming around untagged.
A couple of the whites have acoustic tags that constantly transmit a signal which can be picked up by receivers placed in the water when they get within about a hundred yards of the receivers. There are about a dozen receivers in place from Nantucket past Chatham,Cape Cod and north toward Truro/Provincetown. they have picked up 2 of the acoustically tagged white sharks in the last month,near the seal colony at Chatham harbor. Other untagged whites in that area that will not be recorded.
If you are interested in sharks in the New England area visit my website at newenglandsharks.com
I have a couple of pages on local whites on my website. -tom
From ten feet under water, surf boards and kayaks tend to resemble seals.
White Sharks + seals = yum, yum, yum
Most of the time, if a White Shark bites you, he’ll spit you out, since you don’t taste like a seal.
Not much consolation, though, if you’re bitten in half or you’ve lost a leg/severed a major artery.
Sent swimmers running? Huh? Makes no sense.
“I never thought I’d see a shark.” They play in sharks’ kitchens and are surprised when a hungry shark heads for the snacks.
Unintended consequence of the “Save the Seals” campaigns.
Another great book on the 1916 shark attacks in NJ is:
Twelve Days of Terror by Richard G. Fernicola M.D. -Tom
Nauset beach was evacuated Saturday afternoon
Why evacuate the beach? The shark isn’t going to come on land.
Went surfing at Nauset last week and the water was warmer than usual and there were more seals than usual. So ... hmmm .... sharks live in all the oceans, and they follow the food sources. My hope is that Mr. Shark can distinguish a 9’6” surfboard from a plump 5’ seal.
If you ask the striper fishermen around here, they’ll tell you that the seals more natural predators.
... “need more natural predators.” Doh.
So now the cape is less appealing than ever. It’s already crawling with libs.
“Sent swimmers running? Huh? Makes no sense.”
It makes sense to me. I would be running right on top of the water, and only touching it every 10-12 feet!
The character of Quint was based on Frank Mundus pictured above. The jaw he is holding came from a white he harpooned (with barrels, just like the movie) that broke the scale at around the 4500# mark while its tail was still on the dock. The jaw used to be on display at Salivar's (sp?) near the Montauk dock....it may still be there
I had an armload of stuff and trying to padlock the back door. A storm was headed in so the screen door kept hitting my leg. There I was, kicking the screen door that had somehow caught on my jeans and trying not to drop everything with the wind howling and my hair blowing everywhere. I finally got the padlock done and looked down to get the screen off my leg only to find out a 7-8 foot snake had figured eight’ed around my feet. The next thing I knew, I was standing on the road. Have no idea how I got there but it was a world record. One moment I was on the porch and the next - bam!, in the road. I looked back to see the snake going under the porch.
“You’re gonna need a bigger beach”.
He’s gonna need a bigger boat.
Massachusetts? There are already plenty of sharks on land...
I know that bulls have a history in Joisey and have been caught in the Hudson. Is it true that they don't hang out in New England?
As I am sure you know, an interesting factoid about bulls is that can survive and thrive in fresh water and have been caught in the Mississippi as far north as St Louis.
Because Somebody MIGHT Go In The Water!!!!
While it was bylined by Tim Caputo, it appears that someone in the station transcribed a video report into print. Probably some part-time math nerd from MIT.
Perhaps the swimmers weren’t qualified to go back ashore, so waivers were required.
I know that bulls have a history in Joisey and have been caught in the Hudson. Is it true that they don't hang out in New England?
There have been claims of bulls being caught off Cape Cod, but knowledgeable people who have investigated have concluded they were dusky sharks, and not bulls. A dusky will have a ridge on it's back a bull will not. -Tom
I caught that one too, got a chuckle. Had the same thought you did.
There are about 4,000 seals around Chatham, MA
A group of them have moved northward above Highland light around the corner to Peaked Hill, (Provincetown.) That's about 45 miles north of Chatham.
I will be in that area tuna fishing tomorrow. A few days ago I was bluefishing there and had two rod and reel battles with seals that got hold of the bluefish the charter was trying to get to the boat. This seal problem is unusual in that area but the seal population explosion is expanding up to Provincetown, so we can expect mre problems with seals. -Tom
Walter Szulc Jr., in kayak at left, looks back at the dorsal fin of an approaching shark at Nauset Beach in Orleans, Mass. in Cape Cod on Saturday. The waters are filled with seals, which attract the sharks.
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