A trio of shark sightings near South Beach has pulled swimmers out of the water over the last few days.
A recent spate of shark sightings near South Beach has pulled swimmers out of the water over the last few days.
Three separate sightings were reported this past Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, Edgartown parks administrator Jessica McGroarty told the Gazette by phone. The water was closed to swimmers for two hours following each incident.
“We’ve got the lifeguards on the ATVs and we’ve got the park patrol that go up and down who just advise people, ‘Hey the water is closed for the next few hours, sorry, we had a shark sighting,’” Ms. McGroarty said.
The sharks were viewable from the beach and ranged from roughly 15 to 30 feet away from shore, Ms. McGroarty said. The one seen on Saturday was roughly 12 feet long while the ones on Monday and Tuesday were about six feet each.
Shark sightings are common during August, but Ms. McGroarty acknowledged that three sightings in four days is more than usual.
“This happens in August. The water is warmer and there are seals out there,” Ms. McGroarty said. “That is a little out of the norm.”
Comments
"Little out of the norm"...it
Bob Huntington, NY"Little out of the norm"...it won't be as long as the Seal population continues to boom. We had one deep in Long Island Sound last July. That's really out of the norm. Great Whites will follow, this is the result.
Expect the number of
Paul SarasotaExpect the number of sightings to increase. I’ve spent a lot of time on the south shore beaches and forty years ago it was a rare event to see a seal from these beaches. More recently (within the past five years) I’ve seen over two dozen congregated within fifty yards off shore near Edgartown Great Pond. Ending the bounty on seals in the early seventies has allowed them to thrive (check the number of sightings along the east shore of the Cape).
Are the comments above for or
D Hodsdon VHAre the comments above for or against seals?
Seals are animals preyed appon by sharks as are other sea animals that are wounded,dead or dying. Humans too, though rarely, are part of that food chain.
Let's not forget how humans have tried to control nature and have done a pretty lousy job of it bring to extinction thousands of species.
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