A great white shark killed a seal off a Cape Cod beach August 21, creating a panicky reaction by those frequenting the popular area.
Beachgoers were enjoying the waters off Nauset Beach around 1:30 p.m. when a great white shark chased a seal into the shallows near the beach.
“I was in the water with my daughter,” Pat O’Brien told the Boston Globe. “She had just gotten out and I was looking up at her, and she yelled something down to me, but I didn’t hear what it was.”
He soon realized she was warning him about the shark which had just attacked a seal.
“I turned to my left, and I could see it and I could hear it,” he said. “The seal was making a lot of noise, like it was screaming. I’ve never seen so much blood in my life.”
Once back on the shore he watched as the injured seal swam toward a pair of surfers.
“We were all yelling ‘Swim! Swim! Shark! Swim!’ but they [the surfers] didn’t react at first,” O’Brien told CBS Boston.
Once the teens realized what was happening, they quickly turned toward shore. One of the surfer’s feet became tangled in the board’s leash and needed assistance.
“He reached up and yelled ‘Help me! Help me!’ and I grabbed his right arm and another guy grabbed his left arm and we pulled him out,” O’Brien said.
While all the humans made it out of the water, the seal bled to death farther down the beach and was photographed floating in the surf.
The area around Cape Cod has become an aggregation site for great whites, and currently is being studied by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF).
The DMF relies on outside funding to conduct research, and is supported heavily by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy (AWSC).
The AWSC collaborated with the Division of Marine Fisheries, the Cape Cod National Seashore, and officials from Cape Cod and South Shore Towns to develop the Sharktivity app.
The app uses push alerts to notify beachgoers of white shark sightings, detections, movements, and aims to help people and White Sharks coexist peacefully. While the incident may cause beachgoers to panic, the area has not seen many negative shark interactions.
The last shark attack in the state had no injury. Ida Parker and Kristin Orr were watching seals, when a 12- to 14-foot great white shark bit and attacked their kayak.
The last human injury occurred July 30, 2012. Chris Myers was bodysurfing around 400 yards offshore when a shark pulled him under the water. The 50-year-old was able to swim back to shore with the help of his son.
Update:A Paddleboarder was knocked of his board that was bitten by a great white shark August 23.
While no one can guarantee a shark won’t bite a human, the odds remain against it. If you regularly use the beach, swim with others in a group, and avoid swimming near seals. If you see a seal in the water, it is advisable to quickly and calmly exit the water as soon as possible.
More shark prevention tips are available here.
There have been a total of 69* shark attack bites in 2017, 5 of which were fatal*; 33 were reported in the US, with 21 occurring in Florida** and one in Hawaii. Nine occurred in Australia, one of which was fatal and one with no injury. Four unconfirmed worldwide and not included in the total count.
All locations have been marked on the 2017 Shark Attack Bites Tracking Map.
*Two may be scavenge. **One report may have been outside of Florida waters.
