Penny (Acrylic on Canvas, by ML/LTOS)
Penny is an American Staffordshire Pit Bull Terrier/Mix. She just celebrated her ninth birthday, which means she is no spring chicken, but still tried to rescue my sister from the Cape Cod Sharks.
ML/LTOS
Posted on 10/22/2019 10:45:56 AM PDT by Capt. Tom
NORTH EASTHAM — Thursday night marked the first time the public had an opportunity to weigh in on a recently released report on shark detection, deterrence, exclusion and other alternatives intended to keep people safe, or at least safer, when they enter the water at Outer Cape Beaches.
“There’s a lot of techniques out there, and none of them are all that perfect, that’s what it comes down to,” said Todd Morrison, an oceanographic engineer for the Woods Hole Group, which produced the Outer Cape Shark Mitigation Alternative Analysis.
The report was prepared under a $50,000 contract paid for by the six Outer Cape towns, the National Park Service and the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy. “I doubt there ever will be a 100% solution to this,” said Brian Carlstrom, superintendent of the Cape Cod National Seashore. “It’s a huge, monumental change in how we recreate in the ocean.”
But David Pike of Wellfleet saw something in the Woods Hole Group report that he liked. In analyzing the technological alternatives, Morrison suggested layering detection technology with a high-flying plane giving the big picture, balloons with high definition cameras and drones to check out anything suspicious....snipped
(Excerpt) Read more at capecodtimes.com ...
Just wow! What breed is your dog?
Findings: You’re going to need a bigger Cape.
The white sharks have expanded well beyond Cape Cod, and in a few years will be showing up in more New England areas. -Tom
$50k. For $50, I’d have given them proven advice. Don’t swim in the sharks’ meat market.
Maybe a solution would be to divert some of those slave ships and lure the sharks back out into the mid-Atlantic using tried (according to a demoncrat congressman) and true chumming techniques...
Sell “Bang Sticks” at kiosks all along the beach, for swimmers to use against the sharks.
Sell “Bang Sticks” at kiosks all along the beach, for swimmers to use against the sharks.
Hi Captain.
You know that buzzards, like sharks gotta eat.
5.56mm
Below is an excerpt from the 50K report, - Tom
Findings in this report do not endorse any particular method or product, and are not intended to provide specific recommendations for methods to employ. That decision is complex and lies with stakeholders faced with varying levels of risk exposure, public assets, available resources, site-specific environment, and use patterns.
The findings in this report also are not intended to assume any liability or responsibility for injuries that may occur regardless of whether mitigation alternatives are employed or not. There is no solution available that can ensure 100% safety to individuals who choose to enter the water.
Although the season seems to be over the swimmers may have gone but the sharks remain.
The long awaited shark mitigation report has been discussed and it is apparent it is an unsolvable problem as long as white sharks are protected, and just about every mitigation suggestion has a downside.
A 4 minute video discusses it here:
www.capecodtoday.com/article/2019/10/26/249704-LCTV-Shark-Report-No-Perfect-Solution
IMO, the ONLY suggestion that will protect both the people & the White Sharks from death/extinction is to FENCE OFF the swimming beaches, such that the sharks do NOT prey upon swimmers. = It WORKED fine in 2016 & would work in the 21st Century, too.
That said & though I’m a shark CONSERVATIONIST, it may NOW (or at least SOON) the time to allow LIMITED/LICENSED hunting (which has been effective at both conserving & protecting alligators/crocodiles, as well as certain predatory landside species) of both GW & their prey mammals, so that human/shark interaction & attacks are greatly lessened in places outside of the FENCED-off swimming areas.
(My adopted family’s “front yard” on Oak Island, NC for just ONE such place.)
Just my OPINIONS, TMN78247
"A rigid exclusion barrier (an underwater fence made of mesh net and high density plastic) would have some impact on coastal processes if installed off of a Cape beach considering the scale of these structures and the amount of sand being transported along the shore. There have also been concerns voiced by the international surfing community, as these net/barrier installations attenuate wave energy, thereby reducing wave heights. The structures may also be viewed as an obstruction to surfing, resulting in recreation outside the safety barrier." - Tom
SORRY but NO answer is PERFECT & the safety of surfers is of LESS interest to me than the safety of the vast majority of recreational swimmers.= 6 or 8-inch square HDPE mesh would keep the Whites OUT & hopefully the vast majority of swimmers safe from attack & W/O affecting the smaller creatures overmuch.
(The “pretty good” answer is NOT the PERFECT answer but far superior to no answer.)
yours, satx
True enough.
This is an unsolvable problem as long as the seals and sharks are protected.
From Cape Cod Times-
Perhaps the real takeaway from this report is the simple fact that our reality has changed, and that we better get used to it. Essentially, we now have a simple choice: Learn how to cohabitate with these great white visitors, or cede our shores to them.
As some have pointed out, risk is often a fact of life, and some activities carry more risk than others. (One such high-risk activity is to don a wet suit and flippers and mimic the actions of a seal.) Our shores are no longer our own; perhaps a valuable lesson, reminding us that nature does not play favorites.
For once, I have to agree with a “news” outlet. = THE CAPE COD TIMES is 100% CORRECT.
“Looking & acting like a seal”, swimming when you are bleeding, swimming in murky water, swimming after dark or near dawn are just a FEW of the “inordinately hazardous behaviors” that may cause you to become a shark attack victim.
Yours, TMN78247
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