Posted on 07/29/2020 1:15:56 PM PDT by Capt. Tom
ORLEANS, Mass. — Numerous great white sharks have been spotted this week off the Massachusetts coast, often causing beaches to close as a precaution.
A shark sighting was reported at Nauset Beach in Orleans around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to a message relayed by the Sharktivity app from the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy. The water was closed to swimming for an hour as a precaution.
Another sighting was reported in the same area Tuesday after a shark attacked a seal about 20 yards off the beach. Additional sightings were reported Monday and Tuesday near Chatham.
Additionally, a possible sighting was reported Wednesday near White Horse Beach in Plymouth. The public beach was closed while the harbormaster investigated.
Skomal was also involved in positively identifying the animal that killed a woman in Maine earlier this week was a great white shark.
Breeding season?........................
Perhaps Cuomo should beg them to come back and get eaten alive?
I figure seals may be destructive, but not stupid. You got a apex predator hunting you, it could be time to relocate. Now not many seals leave Great Whites cruising for other options. Time to skip buying black wet suits, especially furry ones. Jmho
One of the eyes on the water was Boston's Ch.4 helicopter and they shot the following footage.
Copy and paste it in the url. -Tom
https://twitter.com/i/status/1291461015813709825
A good friend of mine, a shark biologist has been on this seal white shark problem on Cape Cod, before it really developed, over 15 years ago.
I remember him telling me, initially when a white shark would attack and kill a seal, the other seals, not used to being hunted would swim over to see what was happening.
That has changed in recent years as the seals have adjusted to being hunted. -Tom
Sounds like the sharks are having a seal buffet.
Yeah prey animals learn. Mule deer would run a short distance and stop turn and look to see if they were being perused years ago. Now? Not so much. The wait till he stops and goes broadside isn’t so common nowadays. I figure seals may have wised up. Most critters do. Paddling around like a Heddon Jitterbug lure in a wetsuit may attract some unwanted attention. Frogs, bass, Great Whites, and people gotta swim. Nearly everything we do is at our own risk. It’s what freedom is about to me.
Hey Captain Tom, how is the Cape’s economy holding up these days. For a while there, Barnstable County was in the top 100 counties for COVID-19.
Any sense how the restaurants and bars are surviving Mass. hysteria?
Reminds me of the sad tale of Snuffy the Seal. A simple search will bring up the video. My 9 YO grandson laughs his head off every time he sees it.
LOL, maybe getting out of Dodge while the gettin' is good!
With a RINO Gov.Charlie Baker, I have no reason to believe Mass. will get on track to save some of the restaurants, or help out any distressed areas. -Tom
I was in Barnstable last week. Hyannis’ Main Street was a ghost town. The two places we went to eat had limited seating, but there were tons of people waiting. It took a while but we got in.
Overall, traffic in the area was closer to what I recall seeing in November or February. For the first week of August, that was concerning.
Let's hope the buffet is back on Cape Cod this fall and doesn't move into our area.
Yearly there are tons of mackerel just outside the harbor around the SA Gong, and all kinds of menhaden schools around.
This would feed many seals, and if the seals decide to haul out at Sand HIlls, or Pegotty, or the Spit, remember the seals are a protected species and must be left unbothered.
Then we could have the white sharks replace the striped bass as local predators.
Only time will tell. -Tom
Very sad. It may take a few years to recover.
My Dad was a real estate agent on the Cape for 40 years. He said the banks went from year to year taking on new tenants at the restaurants. The idea was to find somebody to pay the rent.
So there are probably 70% new restaurant failures anyway. But some of the established places probably can’t survive.
They are all up here on the NH coast and the ME coast.
My son lives on Rye Beach. It is crowded even with the Governor’s restriction of now parking on 1A(Ocean Blvd).
Another friend owns a house he rents out in York Beach, ME.
He is inundated with requests to rent his house. Even after Labor Day. He has had a couple requests to rent it the entire off season. However, his kids need to go back to school in York public schools.
There is a continuing mass exodus from all the major cities. Especially NYC. Once these people realize they can make a living without having to drive into a job at a high rise, they will never come back. The demographics of the country are changing right in front of us because of covid and BLM riots. NYC real estate is in the tank. Houses in southern NH are up 25% in the last year and selling within a few days.
Being able to work remotely is changing our country right before our eyes. Again, not always for the best. For example, I just explained to a new resident in my town of southern NH that ALL properties were open to hunting unless they were specifically posted every 50’ on their boundary.
She(I will call her KAREN)was not aware of this when she moved to my town of 2500 people recently. I asked her why she was against people hunting on her property. Karen explained that she had 4 young children that liked to walk in the woods and enjoyed having deer in their backyard. As I bit my tongue, I tried to explain to Karen that not only was hunting a way of life here in NH. That almost everyone lets other people hunt on their property. That there was more danger to her children riding their bikes on the road than ever being shot by a hunter on her property.
In addition, the hunting of deer allows for the control of over population of the species. Lack of hunting in places like Long Island, NY have led to nuisance destruction of property, shrubs, etc and potential disease problems among they herd. Frankly, I knew I was preaching to the choir, but I felt like venting.
One of the guys I work with was fishing yesterday morning on the outgoing tide of the Merrimack on Joppa Flats.
He said he was catching stripers on almost ever cast.
He went out again this morning. He is probably back to the office here in Nashua now. I will get today’s report in about an hour.
Maybe a lot of the seals have moved farther north as the water temperature has warmed up. The Grey seals seem to be much more plentiful in the gulf of ME than they used to be a few years ago.
I just hope the sharks swim right by Rye Beach, NH. At least this Sunday when I am in the water at Jenness. ;)
Manomet Point ,Plymouth MA, has always had harbor seals but now about 50 grey seals have moved in.
White sharks are also in that area as indicated by the tagged shark detection buoys and visual sightings. -Tom
Many restaurants in Chatham are now closed at the peak of the summer tourist season, according to WCVB. A sign posted on the door of the Kream N’ Kone in Chatham explains why.
A worker tested positive for COVID-19 and the staff is now self-quarantining,
Another restaurant, The Talkative Fig, shut down for a deep clean.
The town’s director of health says cases of COVID-19 are popping up after a house party in town on July 12.
“The indication where there was somewhere between 30 and 50 people present … and they were not wearing masks and they were not socially distancing,” said Dr. Robert Duncanson.
Many worked in the restaurant industry.
Wow, I was born and raised in Yarmouth. Can’t imagine the summer scene on the Cape where you’re restricted in going out to eat. Hopefully the take-out ice creams and hamburger joints are sill alive.
Thanks for the news...
As I have said before, I have no hope that the Trump hating RINO Gov. of Mass. will readily open up this state.
Below is the latest blow to reopening.-Tom
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Citing COVID-19 clusters, compliance violations, Massachusetts postpones second step of Phase 3 reopening ‘indefinitely,’ Gov. Charlie Baker says
Updated 2:29 PM; Today 1:34 PM Aug.7,2020
By Steph Solis | ssolis@masslive.com Citing recent large parties that fly in the face of the COVID-19 restrictions, Gov. Charlie Baker said Friday Massachusetts will indefinitely postpone entering the second step of Phase 3.
The Republican governor said Friday that the state would not only postpone this segment of the reopening but also ramp up enforcement, creating a multi-agency coalition with police officials to crack down on violations of the COVID-19 regulations that are supposed to limit community transmissions.
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