“Jaws†unwelcome visitors on Labor Day
Several shark sightings led to the closing of some eastern beaches near Cape Cod over Labor Day, the US’s last holiday weekend of summer, leading to comparisons with the mythical “Jaws.”
The species was probably great white sharks, according to Lisa Capone, Massachusetts Department of Energy and Environmental Affairs press secretary.
There were as many as five sharks seen near Chatham’s Lighthouse Beach, a public swimming area. The sharks were as large as ten feet long.
The event mirrored the best-selling book and popular movie “Jaws,” which also started with shark attacks on Labor Day weekend.
The incident made many travel observers consider the issue of human-killing sharks.
They have killed four people annually on average worldwide for the past several years, said George H. Burgess, curator of the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File.
"The chances of us as individuals entering the sea and not coming back as a result of a shark attack are slim to none when you consider the millions upon millions of people that go into the sea each year," he said.
The museum’s shark attack file lists 41 unprovoked shark attacks in US waters in 2008, with one fatality, in California. Most of the attacks, 32, occurred in Florida.
Officials believe the Cape Cod seal population attracted the sharks to the area.
Experts say that the great white shark is the world’s largest known predatory fish, though these creatures usually prefer feeding on other fish and marine life versus humans.
But that should not give anyone a false sense of security because great whites are still a threat to humans. According to the website Oceana:
“The white shark has made more unprovoked attacks on humans than any other shark.
However, humans are not its natural prey and many such attacks can be put down to the shark mistaking a diver for a seal or turtle.”
By David Wilkening
David
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