The Center for Coastal Studies captured video of sharks feeding on the small minke whale carcass on Thursday
By Marc Fortier
Three beaches on Cape Cod were closed to swimming Friday after as many as six great white sharks were spotted feeding on a whale carcass.
The carcass later washed up near Noons Landing in North Truro. Noons Landing, Beach Point and Cold Storage beaches were declared off limits to swimmers.
If you go to the beach, it’s probably crossed your mind at least once: Shark attacks can happen.
It’s hard not to think about it since they’re in the news every summer. The latest terrifying story is of two teens who were attacked by sharks on Sunday in two separate incidents along the same stretch of beach in North Carolina.
According to the Associated Press, a 12-year-old girl lost part of her arm and suffered a leg injury, and a 16-year-old boy lost his left arm a little more than an hour later. Even scarier, both were in waist-deep water.
The most recent attacks weren’t the only ones the area has seen. A shark bit a 13-year-old girl’s foot a few days before, about 15 miles away.
There were 52 reported shark attacks in the U.S. last year, none of which were fatal, says Andrew Nosal, Ph.D., a marine biologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. California, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas are where they happen the most often, he says.
While that number seems low when you think about everyone who hops in the ocean each year, any shark attack is one too many. Should we be worried?
Probably not, says John Carlson, Ph.D., National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries shark expert. “While we can’t downplay the tragedies that occurred with these teenagers, we have to emphasize that shark attacks are an extremely rare event,” he says.
Carlson also points out that sharks don’t usually seek out humans and only attack when they confuse us for their natural prey.
Here are Mary Lee’s recordings since 2012. Every time her dorsal fin rises above the water’s surface, OCEARCH receives a “ping”.
May 26,2014
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Thinking of going to the beach this summer , meet the newest member of the New Jersey shore community , no its not Snooki 2, her name is Mary Lee, and she is 3,456 pound great white shark .
Mary Lee was originally tagged off of the coast of Cape May back in 2012. Well this summer Mary Lee is back and the great white’s tracker was recorded around 8am only 10 miles off of Wildwood. Then at 1:04 p.m., Mary Lee pinged again about 12 miles off the coast a little further north, right on the border of Avalon and Sea Isle City. (https://1057thehawk.com/3400-pound-great-white-shark-recorded-in-wildwood-today/?trackback=fbshare_top )
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