White sharks, seals and swimmers in Massachusetts

Walpole Wicked Local ^ | <u><b>June 26, 2019</B></u> | Freeper Capt. Tom

[Capt. Tom]

This is an article I wrote few years ago. It was published in about 50 coastal newspapers throughout New. England.

I came across it while looking for a recent up to date article I wrote for the 2021 shark season.-Tom

Hopefully some Freepers will like it.

[Paperpusher]

“A few years later, in the early 2000s, the protected, 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.”

Lets see: sharks protected, check. Nutritious seals protected, check
Less nutritious human snacks, not protected. Got it

I would think that politicians would be nutritious due to fat content. But only Republications. Everyone knows Democrats are a protected species.

[Alas Babylon!]

Damn well written article, Cap!

[Deaf Smith]

Pro Tip:

Do not suite up in a black wet suite and black swim fins.

[Capt. Tom]

I would think that politicians would be nutritious due to fat content. But only Republications. Everyone knows Democrats are a protected species.

Usually when a town meeting gets hot and heavy there are two sides like Republicans and democrats. There is that down the Cape but there are several other sides when it come to handling the shark/seal problem ,so whatever you say you are not going to face opposition from one other side, you are going to get hit from several groups with different agendas. The Cape Cod towns gave up on having opinion meetings as they got too confrontational. -Tom

[SuperLuminal]

I’d strongly encourage MA residents/voters to help preserve the white sharks by swimming frequently on the Cape...

Swimming enjoyment can be enhanced by rubbing animal blood on your legs before entering the water...

[rlmorel]

Heh, the town meeting in the movie Jaws is ample illustration of how it would descend into an exercise in herding cats…

I find the cultural mirror of that movie to be most entertaining…even some 35+ years later!

[rlmorel]

Oops, 45+years later!

[JimRed]

I seem to remember from reading Jaws the book that in response to a question about why the shark was hanging around, a character replied “It had food”.

[shotgun]

Having worked in public sevice for 30 years, Jaws is a perfect case study of the problems with city government. A political motivated mayor, refusing to listen to logic, who throws his police chief under the bus for trying to do the job he was hored to do

[Capt. Tom]

I seem to remember from reading Jaws the book that in response to a question about why the shark was hanging around, a character replied “It had food”.

Seal thriving is now throughout New England, thanks to Federal protection.

Data shows some white sharks hang around Cape Cod, others cruise the coast all the way up into Canada. Plenty of seal meal opportunities along the way.

Right now, as best I can determine, if the seal meal is readily available, about once a week is adequate to feed a white sharks appetite. -Tom

[rlmorel]

"...A political motivated mayor, refusing to listen to logic, who throws his police chief under the bus for trying to do the job he was hored to do..."

That was a great summary of the dysfunctional aspects of our various forms of government. Nice job.

[shotgun]

I always figured if I ever went back to get my Master’s in Public Administration, it would be the basis for my thesis.

I also always told new members of my senior staff to watch it so they get a good idea of life at the top of local government.

[rlmorel]

Heh, love it!

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

True enough - Seattle last year great case in point.

[Red Badger]

Time to bring back sealskin coats.............. https://sartorialnotes.com/2013/03/06/bespoke-seal-fur-coat/

[Capt. Tom]

I thought of the time when Wayne Davis tuna spotter pilot could not get any Cape Cod Newspapers to write about the white shark he had photos of, which was close to shore in Chatham, Cape Cod.

Remember the scene in “Jaws” where Mayor
Vaughn is concerned about the Police Chief Martin Brody panicking the beachgoers with shark talk.

“Martin, it’s all psychological. You yell barracuda, everybody says, “Huh? What?” You yell shark, we’ve got a panic on our hands on the Fourth of July.”

Only in this case on Cape Cod it
was Labor Day weekend 2008. -Tom

[Rebelbase]

I learned to surf at Nauset Beach in the 70s. Couldn’t pay me to go into that water now.

[Capt. Tom]

I learned to surf at Nauset Beach in the 70s. Couldn’t pay me to go into that water now.

Right now if you read anything by or about an avid Cape Cod surfer, they all seem to have witnessed white shark attacks on seals while waiting for the right wave.

Some have given up surfing, and some will only go in the winter and spring.

The summer surfers are at ground zero. Those wet suit surfers see a lot more white shark activity up close, than any other group. -Tom

[Capt. Tom]

I learned to surf at Nauset Beach in the 70s."

There was some body at Nauset beach looking for you today. Maybe it can catch up to you when it passes No. Carolina this winter - Tom