Cape Cod beaches close after shark spits seal onto shore

[jpak]

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]

1. So they close the beach because nature is doing what nature does?

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]

4. Are you really complaining about closing a beach for 1 hour after a shark was seen feeding there?

[Frank Cannon]

17. I grew up in Fernandina Beach. We swam with shark fins around us all the time.

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]

19. If we waited an hour in Florida after every shark ate something, we would never get in the water

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]

16. They close the beach until the blood disperses

Have you ever seen what nature does?

[LanternWaste]

22. A sentiment no doubt shared by Tommie Woodward.

A sentiment no doubt shared by Tommie Woodward.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/04/us/texas-alligator-attack/

[Marrah_G]

23. It is perfectly reasonable to close a beach for a short time when a White shark is close to shore

These are actively hunting very large great whites.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

2. Shark was like "ptooey, this isn't human"

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

6. Then it wanted to pick its teeth ...

... so off to find a surfboard.

[KansDem]

18. Maybe it was a vegetarian and thought the seal was made of soy?

[haikugal]

3. I hope someone threw the seal back so it wasn't wasted. nt

[mak3cats]

9. That's the first thing I thought, too. (eom)

[Igel]

11. Absolutely. It's unnatural to kill and not eat the meat.

I mean, only humans do that. Esp. Westerners.

Was this a Western Great White, by any chance?

[haikugal]

12. Sounds like a Repug to me!

I'm still trying to figure out how a Great White bit the seal and threw it on the beach....hmmm

[Marrah_G]

24. Atlantic white shark

[RufusTFirefly]

5. People so fearful and risk-averse are easily manipulated. n/t

[Warren Stupidity]

8. I've been swimming in those waters for 60 years.

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]

13. Darwin...

[RufusTFirefly]

14. I'm talking less about the people in Eastham...

... 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]

25. I don't think it being overly cautious to not swim in bloody water where GWS are hunting seals

[RufusTFirefly]

26. Agreed. My response was not well articulated

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. Oddly enough, the great whites on cape cod have increased tourism!

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]

29. Good. They have a similar effect on Left Coast tourism.

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]

7. One hour! Imagine that! Hey DFW, glad you're back in Germany?

[Jerry442]

10. Don't you hate that, when you get a bad seal? nt

[iandhr]

15. Show me the way to home...

[frylock]

20. Too salty?

[graegoyle]

21. "Chef! I wanted this al dente!"

[4139]

27. "Waiter?! I ordered Veal!"

[Historic NY]

30. "Those sharks are making coordinated attacks"..

can't we send some of the pasty Gop'er up there to tame them...

[smirkymonkey]

31. I spent my summers there as a child. Never saw a shark or a seal.

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.