Shark attack victim dies in Cape Cod

Oh man, such a young kid . Gone too soon....

 

Thoughts and prayers.

On one hand, first fatality since 1936 but I'd still give boogie boarding on the outer Cape a pass. Too similar looking to a seal...

 

Damn. That’s heavy... knew it was only a matter of time but it’s still awful.

 

IMHO, any water activities on the outer cape are Russian roulette now.
It’s been pure luck this hasent happened sooner and all that’s done is allow people to downplay the issue and forestall the unfortunate reality of major culling.:. And now the big grey genie is out of its bottle for real and in everyone’s faces. And the horsepucky theme of “they’ve always been here you just never saw them.” Really? How bad does that horsemanuer taste now for those that subscribed to it? Lived here on the ocean my whole life, fished it, dove in it, swam on it. Generations of the same before me... how come THEY never saw this? When’s the last time before this decade that more than one or two were sited anywhere near beaches?
Like I said a few times before, it’s all sunshine and rainbows until the thing bites your nuts off

 

^

here, here dewd, just saw this on sharktivity tonight. been goin down there in October for six years now - at that spot. I get the willies just body sarfing some waves for sheets and giggles at low tide. place is mad sharky, seals everywhere. told this a while back, but....

went down at sunrise one October day to take in the warrrrm vibes with some coffee and right there at the high water mark was a farkin murder scene - blood everywhere on the sand. followed the tow marks up to the dunes and a there's a 4-5' seal carcass that had been picked apart after bleeding out.

lots of sandbars there. to put it in sand reconne terms there gotta be 6-12 foot deep channels going for aboot 15-30 yds between bars - at low. like I said, mad sharky. outer bars make some good waves, but I aint takin'. life insurance don't pay out that much for that roulette. its south Africa north.

cull away. I don't want those fuggers and their homies up this way. they have no reason to be in close to shore up here...but waaaat's this!?!?! a hefty white off the coast of me in deecember??? cull the seals (just not the furseals) or the whites, I don't care. also, fly-fishing neighbor across the street says there was a sighting at one of my spots 10 yds off the beach??? also, never see any sea life whilst on a bort up here....except for an occasional sturgeon, mola-mola. this summer? poggies, stripers and bait balls non-stop.

population control or the sarf ranch & Kelly slater are gonna rule the world.

 

Mr B,
I appreciate your concern and indeed there are a lot GWs in the water around the Cape. The reason they are here is the abundance of seals, which protected (since the 1972 MMPA policy). It is the opinion of many that the over population of seals is related to the increased presence of seals. Seals not only are drawing sharks, but also causing problems in other areas, such as fishing (recreational and commercial).

What happened today is tragic, and my thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends that lost a loved one today. From the news reports he appeared to be a very nice young man. The truth is, that the odds are better that one would die in a car accident on Rt 6 on their way to the beach than in a shark attack. If a culling needed to be done, rolling back some aspects of the mmpa of 1972 may be more appropriate than killing of apex predators. Even this requires thought and study, as man can and has made mistakes before in tampering with creations natural processes. People are upset, and even angry, but this needs clear thinking, and emotional decisions don't play out well. And beware of political ones leveraging the emotional climate of any situation.

I havent had the opportunity yet to speak with anybody in the surf community, except one good friend, so I don't know the reaction of the group as a whole. It is very sobering, but I imagine if there are waves tomorrow, people will be surfing, some with pause and caution, others thinking it won't happen to them.

 

cc dog - when you go out, be safe, man.

 

YP, thanks man. I mostly surf my performance SUP. I have a better view and the false sense of security of no appendages dangling in the water. But seriously, the shark drama has intensified this summer (i.e., sharktivity app alerts, etc.) and I tend to "pick my spots", and exercise more caution and discretion. Plus, I'm not as stoked to chase knee slapper and rather go when there's a little more juice or glassy perfection.

 

They overfish and almost kill/eat anything that swims near shore here in this Japanese Island I live in. The nearshore waters here should be crawling with sharks and life but you can't even find one, even scuba divers rarely run into them. All that's left are small/cute tropical fish.

Can't say I have a problem with the situation. At the end of the day, I'm a surfer first, environmentalist second

 

In the words of the mighty Cheech and Chong, Save the whales, but kill those goddamn seals! I don't see many, if any, seals around my area in the summer but have spotted a couple in the lineup at PT Judith over the summer, no bueno

 

Well said.

 

It sucks truthfully, cause with some planning and hard but thought out decisions early on instead of politics and emotional hysteria, not only would we wouldn’t have to be talking about mass culling of amazing creatures like these sharks and the seals for public safety reasons but there is also the real possibility this kid would be alive still. The experts knew the explosion in the seal population would bring consequence and knew it needed attention but didn’t do it or say it because public opinion was warm and furry...and it’s sticky because a lot of people including me and probably many many more in this site really love nature and don’t like wasteful or destructive things happening around us. But it’s the reality of what’s more important - human lives or sharks and seals that needs to be the guide here to measures taken, not politics or emotion. Ideas, plans and studies need to be brought forward - at least now it’s almost season over for them so it gives a window of time to plan, but it’s also true as been said; this summer has been SUPER SHARKEY and it just felt like it was boiling over.
There, I’m done jumping up and down on my soap box. Sorry to have distracted from the scantily clad thread - it’s been BANGIN lately!! Haha

 

buddy, you're easily the most hysterical poster here from describing OH waves at Nantasket on a 2-3' day in the summer to this.

The ocean is the edge of the wilderness - it's not supposed to be the Kelly Slater wave pool. Don't like it, stay at home. Don't want risk getting attacked by a grizzly, don't hike backcountry in the mountain west. Don't want to risk mountain lion attack, don't go in the backcountry in CA. Don't want to risk great white attack, stay off the outer Cape beaches. It's a sad and tragic loss for his family but if he'd gone boogie boarding pretty much anywhere else in NE he's probably alive today.

I hope you are throwing out your daughter's bike today because riding a bike is 1000 more dangerous then surfing the south shore of MA.

 

Hey Wave, it was never a personal discussion here - it’s about something that’s happening that was preventable and is happening because of pisspoor management of the environment and how people are dying because of it. So stuff your personal attack on me where ever it hurts most. If you noticed, there are a ton of different viewpoints and
Opinions being shared but no one has said any trash - til now. By the way, did YOU surf Nanny today? Lemme guess, that wasn’t waist high with some chest sets, that was ankle right?

 

Everyone here understands that there are always risks when you step into the ocean. It's just that the risks now are much greater than before, due to human intervention.

Same way that there are more risks to injury in lineups now from collisions, due to more idiot SUPs, kooks in the water, than maybe 10-15 years ago.

At some point though, you have to ask yourself if it's worth it to stay in the area and keep paddling out, or is it better to just move somewhere else where you don't have to worry about it.

 

Well said and good points.
+1

 

"Save the whales, hey funky momma save the whales."
"Save the whales, hey funky momma save the whales!"
"Save the whales.....
But shoot the seals."

 

The seals stuck around the whole summer for the first time in many, many years. Tons of bunker. Just wait for the fall migration. Montauk is going to be WILD

 

Guarantee 75% of SI population says cull.