Indeed! Was thinking about this on the way home yesterday. There's a video on NEsurf that's about the abundance of Great Whites in the Cape, and without going on and on about it, one conclusion they came to with certainty is that there were way more sharks out there than they had previously thought. I'm not a proponent of culling the seal population(I understand why others might be, not my point either way), but I was wondering if there happened to be a significant reduction in the seal pop., would that increase the chances of a human attack? If the same amount of hungry sharks return to feed and there's less food, will they start to exploit different resources(humans)? Just a thought.
^ I think you would have to eliminate the majority of the seal population up there, wait a few years for the whites to realize that they're gone and get conditioned to going elsewhere. By that time you can surf worry free, that is if you're not already 6 feet under because its already 2076 A.D.
The seal comment was probably a joke to piss off the tree huggers on here but... Research has shown that when most of these supposed "Summer of the shark" attack outbreaks occur be they in FLA, S. Africa, Hawaii, etc there is also a lack of the sharks normal prey. Meaning more attacks occur when our toothy friends are out of their normal feeding patterns. It was even documented that the fishing was really bad in the NJ area during the 1916 attacks. Sea Turtle were supposed scare off the islands when all those Tiger sharks went down and so on. Killing off seals could cause the same. Just a thought to chew on. No pun intended.
Think of it like your grandparents cold weather pilgrimage - They went down to florida in the winter. But for a lot of marine life, it was the gulf of mexico, which is now a BP crime sceene complete with CoreExit outlines of dead turtles and dolphins and tuna. That place was the breeding ground. Instead of migrating, they're just staying put and not breeding. Certinaly the answer is not to kill any more creatures. http://carlsafina.org/publications/books/song-for-the-blue-ocean/ This book is great. Check it out.
No, it is only in recent times that sharks have all but disappeared from the coastal areas. Good job growing up in Florida. These sharks have lived in the ocean since the day 1. If you don't want to worry about them, get out of the ocean.
I didn't see one in her pic, but does anyone know if Mary Lee has a fricken laser beam on her head... If she does then someone has to kill her. I hate sharks with fricken laser beams
Also of note, the shark "Genie" Appears to be following the same course as Mary Lee, just a bit further out at sea. Yet when Genie came down the coast, whereas Mary Lee was at sea, Genie was hugging the shoreline
the seal population is out of control in new england because the whites were all killed off in the sixties and seventies. they are the bigger problem up here. carrying diseases and depleating the inshore fish stalks. the few sharks out there will never catch up with the population. they eat one seal and they wont eat for a week or two. monomoy island has a year round seal population of around 40000.
Mary Lee is bee lining north. She should be around Kure, Carolina Beach & Wrightsville for tomorrow's swell and the long MLK weekend. I haven't been out since New Year's Eve so I'll be out anyway.
She's heading your way too, Yank! dlrouen I usually surf between periwinkle and the pier or down in front of the cabanas. If the current is right I might drift your way. Look for the blood cloud.
