Cape Cod beaches close after shark spits seal onto shore
Source: CBS News
EASTHAM, Mass. -- Officials say two Cape Cod beaches closed after visitors spotted a great white shark biting a seal and spitting it back out onto the beach.
Beachgoers at Nauset Light in Eastham, Massachusetts, saw the shark attack the seal at around 4 p.m. Wednesday, which resulted in a pool of blood. The seal was then thrown out of the water onto the beach, where it died.
A one-hour swimming suspension was issued for Nauset Light and Coast Guard beach, due to their proximity to each other. Paige Long, a dispatcher with the Cape Cod National Seashore, says that's standard protocol.
Seals are a primary food source for great white sharks, which have been spotted in the Cape in increasing numbers over the years.
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Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cape-cod-beaches-close-after-great-white-shark-kills-seal/
FLPanhandle
(7,107 posts)My god, just go to a swimming pool.
We swim with and around sharks all the time in Florida. Occasionally people get bitten, but the water is far far safer than the highways to/from the beach.
uppityperson
(115,681 posts)Frank Cannon
(7,570 posts)It was especially safe if there was blood in the water around us, because that only obscures the shark's senses.
Those were good times, ruined by the "safety society" we live in today.
FLPanhandle
(7,107 posts)Sharks are always feeding. I guess our beaches aren't as regulated as up north.
I can drive my boat along the shoreline and see dozens.
Statically, the biggest danger people face is the drive to/from the beach.
Warpy
(111,359 posts)Have you ever seen what nature does?
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)A sentiment no doubt shared by Tommie Woodward.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/04/us/texas-alligator-attack/
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)These are actively hunting very large great whites.
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,344 posts)JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,369 posts)... so off to find a surfboard.
KansDem
(28,498 posts)haikugal
(6,476 posts)mak3cats
(1,573 posts)Igel
(35,359 posts)I mean, only humans do that. Esp. Westerners.
Was this a Western Great White, by any chance?
haikugal
(6,476 posts)I'm still trying to figure out how a Great White bit the seal and threw it on the beach....hmmm
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)RufusTFirefly
(8,812 posts)Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)If there are seals nearby, you get out of the water. If there are seals being eaten, you get out of the water quicker. Heck I'll get out of the water if the bluefish are too close to shore, as those fuckers can't kill you but they can bite the crap out of your legs.
But feel free to swim in a bloody feeding frenzy.
haikugal
(6,476 posts)RufusTFirefly
(8,812 posts)... and more about the people at Pt. Judith or even Cape Hatteras, who decide not to swim today -- just to be on the safe side. Or the people in Toledo, who double-bolt their doors after they hear about the escaped convicts in the Adirondacks. Or the Americans who dutifully take off their shoes at checkpoints, while Canadians who fly over much of the same airspace do not.
I'm not against being prudent and safe. And I wouldn't think to question the experience of someone who's been swimming in the same waters for 60 years. What I object to is the constant state of fear and threat so many people seem to be in these days, thanks to sensational stories that dominate the news cycle, while truly important news is lost in the shuffle.
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)RufusTFirefly
(8,812 posts)My objection is to sensationalism of particular stories that spreads a climate of fear well beyond the limited area where it may be prudent to be cautious and, yes, even fearful.
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)People flock to Chatham in hopes of seeing them...safely though, from a beach or a boat. It's really a wonderful thing for the ecosystem and for marine biologists here. People are being careful, but it's not stopping people from going to the beach.
RufusTFirefly
(8,812 posts)Unfortunately, many people fear a shark attack far more than getting skin cancer. Chances of the former are roughly 1 in 3,748,000. Of the latter? 1 in 5.
mnhtnbb
(31,405 posts)Jerry442
(1,265 posts)iandhr
(6,852 posts)frylock
(34,825 posts)graegoyle
(532 posts)4139
(1,893 posts)Historic NY
(37,453 posts)can't we send some of the pasty Gop'er up there to tame them...
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)WTF is going on? These days I am afraid to go into the ocean at all. I think I will confine my swimming activities in to a pool going forward. The ocean is just becoming too scary for me.