Posted on 08/21/2019 12:17:18 PM PDT by Capt. Tom
Protection of gray seals and white sharks in recent years has led to a problem of shark attacks at Cape Cod. Soon, the Woods Hole Group will release a report on how to deal with the problem.
I also have a report, with perhaps a different perspective and conclusions.
A much-discussed solution is culling the seals. This is unrealistic. Many biologists believe that the Cape seals are intertwined with a larger population in Canada, and seals killed here would be replaced by seals swimming down from Canada. Even if possible, it would be a bloodbath, shown on national television, with Massachusetts residents portrayed as enthusiastic murderers of the cute, doglike creatures.
There might be tourism boycotts. Culling is also against federal law.
Changing that law is very unlikely: The Marine Mammal Protection Act, marine mammals, and seals are all very popular with the public. .(more at the link)
(Excerpt) Read more at capecodtimes.com ...
Great. Then all the sharks will be addicted to addicts!
Depth charges.
It’s kinda like fishing but with explosives.
Hi.
May I suggest eating them? The dorsal fin is an Asian aphrodisiac.
5.56mm
Dump boatload of lawyers there
Either they repel the sharks
Or we just get more lawyers
Win-win either way
You forgot Bubba Gump Shark.
For the few months the tourists are there, put up large mesh nettings at the beaches where people swim and surf. How tough is that?
“The protected seals exploded to tens of thousands all along Cape Cod’s ocean facing beaches
The protected white sharks feed on them.”
Thank you Captain. That explains everything.
How do you tell a Canadian tourist from any other tourist? Are the ones swimming at Virginia Beach in Speedos in late February early March.
As efficient a predator as the great white is, I was astounded to find out that the apex predator of the world’s oceans are in actualality, the tuna.
There are so many organized factions with agendas now, anything you propose to mitigate the problem will be attacked.
I.E. What if a protected shark or seal gets caught in the net?
Or maybe a dolphin?
How can I surf with a net in the way?
What happens when the wind and waves hit the net. Who is going to maintain it, pay for it etc -Tom
Gotta say though, IMO that was one of the few times the picture was better than the book
Actually, NETS are a BAD PLAN, as our “way down yonder” ANZAC friends learned when they “netted their beaches”.
NETS have too much “by-catch” of ALL species & it was learned that fish caught in the nets actually attracted MORE dangerous sharks.
(BULLS for just one DANGEROUS species.)
FENCES, otoh, WORK WELL & can be paid for with a “dollar a day safe swimming tax”.
Yours, TMN78247
bunch of us saw it at a drive in then we went to the beach after we all went in the water Briefly that is
Salt the area by adding ever larger sources of gray seal shark food and the sharks show up to dine....really tough to figure that out.
Yeah, but we're gonna need a bigger boat.
“How to solve the Cape Cod shark problem”
Just tell them to vacation elsewhere. Attorneys normally have the money to travel to many places.
I believe we can see from the several threads I have put on FR, that Mass. has an unsolvable problem in stopping white sharks from attacking people. (other than us staying out of the water)
So we are now in the situation where : "THE EVENT'S ARE GOING TO CALL THE SHOTS".
Stay tuned. - Tom
Tell me: Has anybody “in authority” actually/seriously considered “fencing off” the popular swimming areas, to separate the Whites/seals from the tourists?
ImVho, UNTIL/UNLESS they DO that essential task, the sharks will continue to make exploratory bites on people.
Yours, TMN78247
Some towns have hired consultants to come up with a solution to be delivered in September.
Whatever solutions are proposed resistance will be forth coming as there are many divisive groups with strong agendas..
If a fence is proposed I see it going like this:
How will it be paid for, since the fence will be for a town beach and any town on the Cape has a small population , around 5,ooo people or less.
The problem is from June thru October and the permanent fence would take a beating from big seas and big winds during he winter(People in other towns are not paying for an expensive fence in anothr town.)
A temporary fence won't last long as even during the summer storms would damage it.
Are you going to ruin the natural beauty of the Cape and put a fence in the water -another ugly navigation hazard?
And what are you trying to do with this fence idea, trying to protect those damn seals and those maneaters?(white sharks) They are the problem.
These are only a few of the ideas off the top of my head, but with all the contentious group agendas involved here, there will be many more.
As the white shark conservancy says, to avoid interactions with sharks stay ashore.-Tom
The SOLE ALTERNATIVE that I can see in 2019 to continuing the current situation of the “summer people” being BITTEN/EATEN or simply “staying away” from your area is “fencing off” the sharks/seals from the people.
As I’ve suggested elsewhere on this forum & elsewhere, IF the fences were constructed so that the panels were sturdy enough to survive Summer storms & could be removed from OCT-Spring to keep the fences from being destroyed by Winter storms, that the fences could be easily paid for with a “one dollar per day Safe Swimming Fee”.
(Those foolhardy folks , who were too cheap to pay a dollar, could “take their chances” with being the victim of an “exploratory bite”.)
Btw, my adopted family in SC has owned an Atlantic oceanfront Summer Place since 1950 on Oak island, NC & even though our neighborhood was the scene of several attacks by large TIGERS & BULLS on swimmers (Two victims died within 200M of our front deck 2 Summers ago.), that has NOT really slowed down the influx of tourists to Oak Island, lessened the number of tourists who want to rent “The Palermo”/the family’s beach-house OR stopped the visitors from entering the water to surf-cast, swim, wade or surf.
Btw, in July 2016, a 672# Tiger was caught less than 100M off of our beach property, by a sports fisherman from Wilmington, NC., using an about 10# Spanish Mackerel for live bait, under a toy balloon. = I was NOT present but those neighbors who were present said that, “- - - - it was a H of a fight for about 20-30 minutes”, as the fisherman was using “light tackle” (a 7’ PENN “Stand Up Slammer” with 4/0 PENN Senator & 30# mono) & was fishing out of a 17’ Grady White (plywood/vintage) OB Runabout.
(FWIW, I was truly sorry that the fisherman insisted on killing the female tiger, as “trophy size” tigers aren’t all that common, are GREAT/determined fighters & grow SLOWLY.= I would have sooner had him catch/measure/weigh/photograph/tag/release her to grow more sharks & likely be caught/released again some day.)
NOTE: I know at least a 1/2 dozen talented taxidermists who will readily make a “catch & release fisherman” a REALISTIC REPLICA of your catch, IF you want jaws/head/body mount for your wall.
(The LARGE Striped Bass on my den wall in NETX is a life-size & VERY handsome REPLICA done by a Galveston County, TX taxidermist & I defy anyone to tell that it’s a replica of a 56# Rock.)
yours, satx
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