I first became aware of why this was an issue when I took a small plane flight over Chatham and saw this:
I had no idea the seal population had grown that big!
Posted on 05/22/2019 11:50:06 AM PDT by Capt. Tom
White sharks, seals and swimmers in Massachusetts
Remember the movie JAWS, the movie that left you with a gnawing feeling that if you were frolicking in the white shark’s domain something bad might happen to you? That has become a reality for some Massachusetts’s beachgoers. They are experiencing recent interactions with white sharks, resulting in attacks causing hospitalizations, close calls, and a fatal attack in 2018.
Why are there so many white sharks here now? What happened? It wasn’t like this before?
Basically it is because seals, and their predators the white sharks, were given protection by the Federal Government. This is an example of “Today’s solution is tomorrow’s problem.” Looks like tomorrow’s problem has arrived.
From 1888 to 1962, Seals were culled in Maine and Massachusetts by paying a bounty on them, this kept their numbers down. The Federal Marine Mammal Protection Act gave seals protection in 1972. Throughout Massachusetts the gray seal population exploded from a few dozen in 1972, to an estimated 50,000 or more in 2018.
White sharks, were routinely killed for their trophy jaws, and meat; they were a rarity in Massachusetts when they received Federal protection in 1997. Over a decade ago, the older nomadic white sharks, 12 feet in length and longer, gradually altered their coastal ocean routes to zero in on the thousands of nutritious gray seals that were multiplying on Cape Cod’s oceanside beaches of: Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans and Chatham.
Smaller Whites in the 8 -10-foot range have recently arrived in Massachusetts waters. These relatively smaller white sharks were born after the 1997 protection provided by the Federal government, and is a sign that the 1997 protection is working. The largest of the white shark species can reach a 16-20 foot length and weigh 2,500 -5,500 lbs.. Most people reading this are in a room 10x12 or 12x14, or 14x16 feet. Visualize a shark having the length or width of the room you’re in, it will give you a perception of their size.
Signs of a potential white shark problem developing began roughly fifteen years ago, when gray seals cut in half, or showing serious bite wounds, began coming ashore on Cape Cod’s beaches. After examining the mauled seal carcasses, marine biologists determined the damage had been done by white sharks, (Carcharodon carcharias).
On Labor Day weekend 2008, tuna spotter pilot Wayne Davis, returning to Chatham airport, saw a shark near shore, it was about a mile from some surfers, and heading toward them. Wayne realized it wasn’t a common basking shark and took aerial photos that shark biologists used to identify the shark as a white shark. The following year, Pilot George Breen spotted two sharks in the same area, and later that day took up shark expert Dr. Greg Skomal, senior biologist at the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), who identified the sharks as white sharks. Three days later, Dr. Skomal along with asst. John Chisholm (DMF), were aboard the EZ Duzit with harpooner Billy Chaprales, and his son Nick; they were able to get satellite tags into two white sharks off Chatham. Thus began one of the world’s most successful white shark tagging programs that continues to this day.
It is not unusual now for a spotter pilot to see 10 or more white sharks a day in a flight along those easterly Cape Cod Beaches during the summer. People and the increasing white shark numbers are now sharing those waters.
Through the years the taggers used up the white shark tags and money provided by the State. The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy stepped in to help, and raises money to aid in this white shark research operation. AWSC has donated the tagging boat, spotter plane, and has given other assistance.
Dr. Skomal told me 151 White sharks have been tagged thru 2018. Many more sharks could have been tagged - if tags were available. The sharks that aren’t tagged, are filmed by GoPro cameras from the tagging boat, and identified by the distinguishing characteristics of each individual. They are over 300 white sharks cataloged for future reference.
Occasional bad weather during the summertime is a detrimental factor for tagging , as it brings wind, rough seas and fog. Otherwise, that area on Cape Cod’s easterly beaches is just about perfect for shark tagging. It is a relatively remote area, has massive gray seal colonies, shallow water with a sandy bottom making it easier to spot the sharks and track them, it has a safe harbor for John King’s tagging boat, a nearby airport for Wayne Davis’s spotter plane, and no shortage of white sharks.
The tagging boat comes out on the oceanside of Chatham, and the limited distance the boat can travel means no tagging is done on the other side of Cape Cod; that would be on the Plymouth side. Expect a tagging operation to be started on that Cape Cod Bay side, as white sharks are there also, and on the increase, according to spotter plane pilots, eye witnesses, anglers who have had their striper and bluefish catches attacked by white sharks, and acoustic tag pings recorded there on hydrophones.
Hydrophones are underwater receivers placed strategically by many different groups of marine researchers to receive signals (pings) from acoustic tags placed on or inside various ocean species. When an acoustic tagged species gets within a hundred yards of a hydrophone, the hydrophone records the date and time of the ping, and the unique signal indicates what individual is involved. The hydrophones must be temporarily removed from the water and checked to retrieve the recorded information-generally on a monthly basis. The recorded various ping information gets shared with a network of researchers studying many different acoustically tagged ocean species along the East Coast. The tagged white sharks from Cape Cod have been recorded on hydrophones from Canada to Florida. In Massachusetts the hydrophones are put out in late spring and brought ashore in December to avoid damage by winter storms.
On the Bay side in early Sept. 2014, off Manomet point, Plymouth, two women in separate kayaks were side by side observing seals, when a white shark attacked one of the kayaks- knocking both women overboard. They were in the water for about a half hour, before being rescued by an Asst. Plymouth Harbormaster and another kayaker. This could have been a fatality, or resulted in serious injury- fortunately the kayakers survived unscathed.
The State’s shark incident investigator John Chisholm told me bite marks on the attacked kayak indicated a kill bite, as the teeth penetrated well into the well-made kayak. Since the shark didn’t return, I think we can conclude a kayak won’t be on that white shark’s preferred meal list.
Like a kayak, we might not be on a white shark’s menu, but how does a shark determine a seal sized person isn’t as good a meal, or maybe a better meal than a seal? A sample bite taken with large triangular serrated teeth can be a devastating problem for us, even if we are afterwards rejected as not being a suitable meal for the shark.
The increase in white sharks, past incidents involving shark attacks on seals close to shore and near swimmers, and an attack earlier on a swimmer who was bitten on his leg, at Ballston Beach, Truro, had people wondering about the possibility of a fatal attack.
On August 15, 2018, a 61-yr. old man was attacked by a white shark off Long Nook Beach, Truro. He had a large blood loss, was med- evacuated to a Boston Hospital where he underwent multiple surgeries and blood transfusions - and weeks of recuperation. That near fatal attack, prompted many people to believe it was only a matter of time until a fatality would happen. They didn’t have to wait long.
A month later, on Saturday, September 15th, 2018, Arthur Medici, 26, from Revere, Mass. was attacked by a white shark. He was boogie-boarding off Newcomb Hollow beach in Wellfleet when the attack occurred. He was pronounced dead when he reached the hospital.
Prior to that 2018 fatal attack, the last fatal shark attack in Massachusetts occurred in Buzzards Bay at Hollywood beach, Mattapoisett, on July 25, 1936 when 16-year-old Joseph Troy Jr. from Dorchester Mass. was attacked while swimming with a friend. Troy died that night in a New Bedford Hospital.
After an investigation of the fatal Troy attack, the shark involved was identified by Dr. Hugh M. Smith, former director of the US Bureau of Fisheries as a “man-eater”, Carcharodon carcharias, the common name at that time for a white shark.
To their credit, many Massachusetts coastal Politicians, Harbormasters, beach managers, shark researchers and medical personnel have taken steps to try to mitigate these increasing shark related problems. For starters, in recent years, shark warning signs have been posted at vulnerable beaches around Massachusetts to raise people’s awareness.
In 2019 the State has appropriated $383,000 for better beach safety for bathers. Coastal towns have been discussing additional steps such as: using nets to protect bathers- flying drones to spot sharks- redefining the role of life guards - making medical supplies available at certain beaches - installing direct alarm systems for seeking medical aid – installing real- time hydrophones to get more up to date ping info on tagged sharks- improving the beach area cell phone coverage-and offering “Stop the Bleed” medical instructions to the public.
Add into that mix, the conflicting group interests of: shark huggers, shark haters, seal lovers, seal haters, business interests, politicians, animal activists, newspaper agendas, commercial and recreational fishermen, shark researchers, people who want to safely engage in water activities, environmentalists, concerned parents and grandparents, politicians and others – these agendas will make public meetings and seeking solutions contentious.
The Federally protected seals and white sharks are long living species; gray seals in the wild live about 30 years, and white sharks as long as 60-70 years. They are not going away.
A few white sharks show up in early June and more in late June and July and stay into October-with an occasional one staying on into the winter months. Expect these white shark attacks to continue when we enter the white shark’s domain; which begins when the saltwater gets above our knees. - Tom
This is strictly a FR post to bring Freepers the facts of how it reached this point, where life is now imitating art in Mass. waters.
It is a long post but is worth reading if you are interested in the background of this situation.
Freepers on Cape Cod are certainly aware of this problem and I would like to hear from them.
If you want info on sharks in the New England area you can visit my website at newenglandsharks.com - Tom
I first became aware of why this was an issue when I took a small plane flight over Chatham and saw this:
I had no idea the seal population had grown that big!
Hahahaha...it either sounds like the Town Hall meeting in "Jaws" or the Bar Scene in Star Wars!
Reminds me of the old Animal Stories on WLS.
During the shark craze following Jaws, they cited a study that said sharks usually went for a “dangling appendage” like an arm or a leg. Larry Lujack replied, “If a shark ever bites off one of my “dangling appendages, I certainly hope it’s an arm or a leg”!
Now would be a good time to buy your mother-in-law that wet suit she needs..................
I have some cousins who were extras in Jaws.
They were some of the girls in bikinis screaming
and running from the beach.
Anywhere there is a large seal population, it will definitely attract the bigger sharks. That explains the large Great White population west of the Golden Gate to the Farallon Islands (and also attracts killer whales along with it).
"This was no boating accident!"
Great bit of acting. Dreyfus looked like he was going to hurl. Actually, there was nothing in that box.
We fish on the Race Point side of Provincetown and about 6 years ago the seals showed up big time and now the whites are here also.
I mentioned it to the spotter pilot Wayne Davis and when his spotting day was over he flew the area and spotted 5 white sharks.
Wayne took a Photo of one very close to the beach and sent it to me in an e- mail.
The whites are now on the Boston Plymouth side of the Cape.
Dr. Skomal will do some white shark tagging in the area this summer.- Tom
Love that movie. I stood in line all the way wrapped around the Shopper’s World Plaza theater in Framingham, MA in 1975!
I went with two carloads of friends a few nights later to see it at a drive in, and after the part where Quint gets eaten, one of my friends could be heard loudly saying “Quint? Quint?”
Heh, broke us right up!
Some years later, that same friend told me he had a dream one night as he slept in his room in his parent’s basement. In the dream, he was in a large, completely dark underground parking lot. The only light was a small barred window at the far end of the parking garage, and a column of light was illuminating a rectangular patch on the floor. Suddenly, he hears a low, base “bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-Bum-Bum-Bum-Bum-Bum-Bum-Bum-Bum-BUM-BUM-BUM-BUM-BUM-BUM-BUM-BUM!” and he said “I just KNEW there was a Great White Shark in that underground parking garage! In his dream, he ran to the barred window, and hoisting himself up, grabbing the bars began to hysterically scream “Hellllllp! HELLLPPP! HELLLPPP!!!!!”
He woke up and was standing on his bed, his face pressed against the screen of the small casement window...the light in the neighbor’s house about 20 yards away came on!
I lived in the Philippines as a kid, and regularly went swimming in 40 foot deep water at night without even giving it a second thought. When I saw Jaws, thinking about those times had a lasting effect on me!
The night we saw Jaws in the theater, a bunch of us went back to swim in the pool at my parents house, and damned if I didn’t feel nervous...in a swiming pool!!!!
The next night, a bunch of us swam across a lake to vandalize a boat belonging to an acquaintance (as a joke), and I will tell you...I was damned edgy. I kept saying “This is a fresh water lake. There are no sharks here. This is a fresh water lake. There are no sharks here.:
The full moon was out, reflecting on the water, and as we swam across in a group, my best friend began thrashing around saying something had just bitten him! I growled at him to shut up, and told him it was probably a little fish of some kind, but I was looking around as if I was going to see a large dorsal fin!
I did have the privilege of spending several hours some years later with a man who had been one of the senior surviving officers on the USS Indianapolis. It was remarkable. After all those years, seeing the effect it still had on him some fifty years later.
Hahahahahaha...every single time I take a bite out of a sandwich or piece of bread, I pause to look at the bite radius, and that line goes through my head!
Love the movie...I even have the 3D version!
I love that area, but I only go down there October through April...:)
Thanks for you insight.
I have three buddies here in NH that will shortly be starting their yearly pilgrimages to Chatham for striper fishing. They have been telling us for years about the increase in seals out on Monomoy Island national wildlife refuge south of Chatham.
It is getting to the point that it is affecting the striper(bass) fishing in the area. This is a major economic benefit for the Cape in early summer. Hundreds of people converge on Chatham when the fish are in. Eventually, as you know, they move up the coast and we can fish in the Merrimack, etc. The amount of seals are effecting the amount of stripers to the point they are changing the size of the striped bass you can keep again.
Pretty soon, the fisherman will start killing the seals again. It is just a matter of time.
Bet Massholes taste like chicken.
Their women so ugly , they can’t be any more use than fish food.
Fat juicy seals. If you’re struck by a shark, you can console yourself that it was just looking for a seal. It won’t do you much good at the morgue, but don’t take it personally.
That's part of the problem-the seals are Federally protected, and unless there is a massive effort you couldn't put a dent in that seal herd here in Mass. - Tom
Interestingly Jaws was made in 1975 when few Whites were in the area as compared to today. Instead of the annual MV Oak Bluffs Shark fishing tournament, they should have a seal fishing contest.
I live in a beach town south of Boston. We see more and more seals. As soon as we spot one I order the kids out of the water. Many of my pals with boats have cut back on tubing in the ocean. That about all I’ve seen for precautions. We swim more in the the North and South rivers. Plenty of bridges to jump off and cool little swimming spots.
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