The Circus

[wavedawg]

The REAL real deal

[icesailing]

Whats next, Next year a group of guys will start haveing cage diveing tours over there. Theyll start hand feeding them. Theyll really assiosiate us as or with food. Niiiicccceeeee. Poor guy down the beach somewhere minding his own business just surfing.

[wavedawg]

This is interesting, especially since a windsurfer falling in the water after a blown jibe probably sounds alot like a diver jumping into the water from a 1/4 mile away underwater. From the pages of Boston.com:

There was no blood in the water, but the great whites clearly sensed something.

From the cockpit of his Piper Super Cub, George Breen spent much of Tuesday afternoon circling the waters south of Chatham, helping a state research team spot sharks hunting for seals in the past week.

As the pilot kept a lookout for the long, dark shadows lurking in the clear water, he saw something harrowing: sharks racing toward swimmers.

“They definitely knew they were out there,’’ Breen said of the sharks. “Whether they’d bite them, I don’t know.’’

The research team tagged three great whites Tuesday, bringing to five the number of sharks tagged with tracking devices in the past week. The discovery of sharks off Chatham forced the indefinite closure of the town’s beaches, but some ignored warnings not to swim in the area.

In one instance, Breen said, he watched a shark approach a diver from a documentary crew making a film about the researchers. Breen said he was circling above the filmmakers’ boat when the diver jumped into the water to retrieve a piece of equipment.

“I saw a shark going real slow about a quarter-mile away, ’’ Breen said, “and then when the diver jumped in, all of a sudden, I saw the shark head right for the boat, going from about 2 knots to 10 to 15 knots in an instant.’’

He radioed the crew on the boat to get the diver out - right away.

The diver, attached to a tether, was pulled out.

“The shark definitely smelled something,’’ Breen said. “Their sensory perception is unbelievable. The shark was only about 100 feet [away] when they pulled the diver out.’’

It was not clear whether the diver retrieved the equipment.

Lisa Capone, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, declined to identify the diver or the film company. Breen said he didn’t know their names.

Shortly afterward, Breen said, he watched another shark dart toward a man surfing in the waters off Orleans.

He said the surfer, who probably never saw the submerged fish, walked ashore as the shark got within about 100 yards of him.

“All I can say is I think he’s just one lucky dude,’’ Breen said. “He was pointed right at the surfer.’’

Dan Tobin, director of Parks and Recreation for Chatham, said most people have avoided swimming in the area.

He said he was not worried about the sharks affecting tourism.

“I think the curiosity factor has kept people in town,’’ he said, “but I guess we’re fortunate that this is the end of the swimming season.’’

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/09/10/tagging_along_on_shark_hunt_in_chatham/

[iceratz@comcast.net]

Some rambling thoughts;
The recent shark sightings & activity off Chatham certainly brings enough interest to the public, but sadly much of this is due to people’s fears. Sure it’s a great story for the news as well.
But what is most fascinating to me, is the pure presence of these creatures and the increased numbers being reported. It’s actually a very good thing which will help bring balance to the ecosystem.

In a world where man has dominated and conquered nearly every corner of the earth, and where nature gets elbowed out, it’s refreshing to hear of these sharks & seals keeping & reclaiming their own territory, making their own rules, as they should.

Nature, when left to its own devices, has a harsh reality check of survival instincts required. Great White sharks are at the very top of the food chain, and they know it!

Grizzly bears, once ruled the west, were edged out by frontier settlers. Now they have been reintroduced and protected, but never to be again the natural higher order as they had once been.
Man always seems to screw things up….

Presently in Chatham, many fishermen will attest to the depletion of the fishing stocks as a result of the huge seal population explosion in recent years.
As many as 2500 seals being reported for the Monomoy Island herd.

We should be thankful that nature “found a way” and will get to work on this situation and bring some balance.
Stand back, and let nature take its course.

As far as I know, Great White sharks, as well as many other large shark species, fall under protection from a Federal fishing regulation which does not allow “retention”.
But does that mean, “catch & release” allowed?
No killing of these fine examples of higher order shall be allowed.
Sadly, poaching is another story….

I hope to take my boat out and see some of these sharks, maybe between my stripper fishing trips off Monomoy
…..but I think I’m gon’na need a bigger boat!

[outcast]

I saw this guy's leg up real close:

http://www.stragiotti.ch/Flavio/bis_2004/sport/windsurf/shark.htm#on16

Looked like someone sliced at him with 30 razors super clean cuts

Don't matter, that was a Tiger.....My issue is access, parking and having to deal with it all.
Like these two circus clowns:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGD_NIQYzTw&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecapecodonline%2Ecom%2Fapps%2Fpbcs%2Edll%2Farticle%3FAID%3D%2F20090913%2FNEWS%2F909130334&feature=player_embedded

JE: get the paddle out....good week coming up

[RickCronk]

As illustrated in the pilot's observations, sharks are attracted to more than blood. Sharks also use electroreception to zero in on possible food choices. The surface of their body is one big receiver of electrical impulses. Just the little impulse put off by a fish or person is enough to ring the dinner bell. So, wear that neoprene full suit, hood, booties and gloves and maybe you'll be insulated enough t be taken off the menu. RC

[icesailing]

i dont know how they comunicate, a few come in for the seals, the next year even more. whether the others sharks follow the few up or in they quickly add up in numbers. like now. theyll memorize this spot as a food source. we dont need to be saving the whole specie right here in new england, we should manage our area, as other states and countys sould manage theirs. In aruba they purposely bring in cow carcases and feed their sharks on the southern end of the island out at see. the sharks there know were to hang around to get food. this keeps the touristy swim areas safe for swimming.

[flaherty]

Outcast...That article was interesting. I saw a shark swim about 5 feet under my board at Kanaha a couple weeks ago. Appeared to be about 6 to 8 feet. I'm not sure if it was a Tiger shark. On the beach earlier someone said they had seen a shark. Strangely, I wasn't too frightened, as sharks are known to be there, and I've sailed there alot, and was having too much fun!

[jingebritsen]

The media is getting really good at whipping up the hysteria about anything that's even remotely "bad." Wish they'd go cover something more substantive. Or, as an example, cover more thoroughly how to keep from drowning in rip currents. 1,000's more die from that, yet all we get is the sound bite, "rip currents can be dangerous today." Still, we get lots more deaths from that item than sharks. Not enough educational follow up by the media with that, sad. Too busy blathering on about some big fish.

[jsw2257347]

The most dangerous shark is still the Bull Shark. It is incredibly territorial, nasty and easily swims up fresh water rivers.


The most dangerous place to be is at the mouth of a fresh water river dumping into the ocean after a strong rain. Bull Sharks, which are aggressive anyway, congregate here to scoop up unsuspecting fish that got washed down river.