The great white shark was seen swimming back and forth yesterday near the shadows of trees along an estuary adjacent to Naushon Island.
Posted on 09/25/2004 8:32:29 AM PDT by JulieRNR21
WOODS HOLE - A massive great white shark trapped for days in a saltwater pond near Woods Hole had not found its way out by yesterday afternoon, a day after marine biologists tried unsuccessfully to herd it toward open water.
Anxious to guard the 14-foot, 1,700-pound female shark from gawkers and trophy fishermen, state officials on Thursday enacted an emergency regulation that forbids the attempted taking of a great white shark in Massachusetts waters.
State environmental police have also been patrolling the Elizabeth Islands day and night to ward off sightseers attracted to the spectacular scene near Naushon Island, which is private land owned by relatives of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John F. Kerry.
"People tend to do silly things in these circumstances," said Sgt. Patrick Grady of the Massachusetts Environmental Police.
The shark, first sighted Tuesday, has been under constant surveillance by authorities. The state's top shark expert, Gregory Skomal of the Division of Marine Fisheries, conclusively identified it as a great white on Thursday.
An unequaled hunter demonized in the "Jaws" movies, the great white is what scientists call an apex predator - it sits at the top of its food chain.
But Skomal, who lives and works on Martha's Vineyard, said this great white is not a threat to humans given its location - a small bay surrounded by scarcely populated private islands - and the short history of attacks in New England waters.
"The great white is a dangerous species of shark, there's no doubt," said Skomal, who on Thursday became the first person to tag a great white in the Atlantic. But this specimen "poses no immediate threat to anybody."
The last confirmed great white attack on a human in local waters occurred in 1936 off Mattapoisett.
Two years ago a great white shark was spotted about 10 miles off the Chatham coast, according to Skomal.
More populous in the Pacific Ocean near South Africa, Australia, and the Farrallon Islands off San Francisco, great whites also inhabit Atlantic waters near Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine in August and September.
Fisheries officials and scientists yesterday urged people to keep away from the Elizabeth Islands, mostly for the fish's safety.
"We are very concerned about the welfare of the shark," said David Peters, commissioner of the state Department of Fish and Game.
Scientists in boats tried driving the shark out of the 20-foot-deep embayment toward Vineyard Sound earlier this week, but failed, according to Skomal, who said he thinks the shark chased prey into the bay on a high tide, then decided to stay or could not find its way out.
Skomal said he and colleagues would consider trying to herd the animal again, but they prefer that it escape on its own.
"Right now we're letting nature take its course," he said.
The shark, which appears to be in good health, Skomal said, will probably need help from another "super high tide."
After a press conference outside the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's headquarters yesterday, Skomal and a crew of scientists and official observers planned to return to the site to observe the shark, Skomal said.
Video footage widely broadcast on television yesterday showed the shark swimming freely and thrashing its tail above water. It came within five feet of shore, observers said.
The shark could survive in the embayment for weeks, especially if it had eaten a large meal before entering the bay. Equipped with enormous livers, great whites can live off a single meal for a month, if necessary.
Skomal said there was no evidence the shark was eating while in local waters.
Even with an adequate food supply of striped bass or albacore, for example, the shark couldn't remain in local waters for too long, given falling temperatures.
"At some point it's going to get cold here and that shark is going to have to move out," Skomal said.
Scientists have a professional as well as humanitarian interest in the shark's escape.
On Thursday morning Skomal planted a data-gathering device on the shark's dorsal fin using a 6-foot spear.
Called a Pop-up Archival Tag, the device is designed to measure and record water temperature and depth as well as light levels.
Although the tag will not allow scientists to track the fish's whereabouts, the data it records will help them reconstruct the fish's movements later.
Skomal said he programmed the device to detach from the shark on April 1 - wherever the shark happens to be. The device should float to the surface and transmit its data to Skomal via satellite. Skomal said he'll get the data by e-mail over a two-week period.
"I don't even have to leave my office," he said.
Shark experts thrill at the prospect of the data the tag could yield, because very little is known about great whites' behavior in the Atlantic.
"Everything we know about the great white is because of studies done in other parts of the world," Skomal, who has swum with great whites near Australia, said.
Scientists know very little about their breeding in any part of the world, he added.
This shark, although a female, is probably not pregnant, he said. At about 14-feet and 1,500-1,700 pounds, it probably isn't mature.
DOUG FRASER contributed to this story.
Could the Great White be looking for a certain windsurfer???..................LOL
Do you have the graphic of the Swift Vets' 'Jaws' tailing a certain windsurfer?
The great white shark was seen swimming back and forth yesterday near the shadows of trees along an estuary adjacent to Naushon Island.
Great white sharks
That thing looks huge! Everyone knows that great whites chomp into boats, eat people, and things of that nature. They need to kill it.
Great White lingers in area near where Kerry windsurfs......LOL.....PING
Chief Brody where are you?
Gawkers? Why, are sharks shy? I suspect the sentence should be reworded, "Anxious to guard the 14-foot, 1,700-pound female shark from ordinary citizens who are interested in her, environmental scientists once again asserted their ownership of the entirety of nature."
These damn things are man eaters. They aren't endangered. They need to kill it, period. We might save a swimmer's life down the road.
Kill it and give the steaks to a homeless shelter.
But did they forbid a great white from taking a gawker?
It goes well beyond irony into tragedy.
Yes....doesn't it make you angry & sad....when animal life is valued more than human life?
I've also noted that many of the most ardent animal rights supporters are also very pro-abortion.
FMCDH(BITS)
I guess the Cape Cod papers are so PC that they no longer can use the name "Indian Ocean"?
Exactly....they might offend the the 'original Americans' as some call themselves.
Of course, it is private property, and the Kerries have every right to keep people out. Who needs a lawsuit because some moron tried to get a picture of his ten year old son sitting on a shark's back?
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