White Shark Sightings On The Rise On East Coast : NPR.

From NPR, I’m Ira Flatow.

Over the last few years, there have been more and more confirmed shark sightings at beaches on the East Coast, and this summer is no exception. Just last week, lifeguards closed part of Rockaway Beach, that’s here in Brooklyn, after surfers spotted a shark.

Further north, officials closed a remote beach in Cape Cod when a spotter of planes saw not one, not two but at least three great white sharks lurking near the shore a couple weeks ago. No one’s been allowed in the water since then.

And then just yesterday, Cape Cod’s Chatham Harbor was closed to swimming due to the sighting of a 14-foot great white shark. Scary, huh?

But before you call in Quint and his too-small shark boat in “Jaws,” to put this in perspective, there hasn’t been a fatal shark attack in New England since way back in 1936. So why are we spotting so many more great whites today?

Is their population growing, or are we just more paranoid and getting better at spotting them? Here to sort out some of the facts from fiction is my guest. Greg Skomal is a senior biologist at the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He joins us by phone. Welcome to SCIENCE FRIDAY, Dr. Skomal.

Dr. GREG SKOMAL (Senior Biologist Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries): Thank you, Ira. It’s good to be here.

FLATOW: Good, thank you. Are there more sharks these days, or are we seeing more of them?

Dr. SKOMAL: I think it’s a function, it’s a number of variables we’re dealing with here, and it’s hard for us to really tell if there’s more sharks or just simply more effort.

Certainly, a lot of the sightings along the East Coast of the United States have to do with more people utilizing the shoreline, utilizing the water for various recreational activities and otherwise.

But in think in some areas, specifically off the coast of Chatham, Massachusetts and Monomoy Island, we are indeed seeing more white sharks. And I think what we’re seeing is a shift in distribution of the white shark in that particular area.

FLATOW: And what is attracting them to that area?

Dr. SKOMAL: Over the course of the last couple of decades, we’ve been seeing a steady increase in the number of gray seals and a growing gray seal, resident gray seal population in that area. I believe it’s drawing these sharks closer to shore.

FLATOW: And why would we be seeing more gray seals now?

Dr. SKOMAL: Well, back in the early ’70s, we passed the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and it’s taken the last few decades for this population to actually recover to levels that pre-existed before we eradicated the species over the course of the last several decades. So we’ve got a growing population in response to protection by the U.S. and state governments.

FLATOW: So I guess what you’re saying is that we’re seeing a restoration of this coastal ecosystem to the way it used to be.

Dr. SKOMAL: Exactly, at least that’s the way we perceive it at this time. You know, we could be going back to what existed several hundred years ago, with a robust seal population being preyed upon by a robust white shark population.

FLATOW: 1-800-989-8255. We’re talking to Greg Skomal about the sightings of great white sharks along the East Coast. Maybe if you’ve seen one, you’d like to call in and talk about it. You can also Twitter us, send us a tweet @scifri, @-S-C-I-F-R-I. Or join the discussion on our website, on sciencefriday.com.

You, what do we you know, aside from watching “Jaws” and all the scary movies about sharks and Shark Week on cable channels everywhere, how much do we really know about white shark populations?

Dr. SKOMAL: Well, there are certain parts of the world where you can predictably find white sharks. And these areas, which include, you know, the Pacific Coast, California, parts of South Africa and South Australia – these are areas where scientists have had the luxury, if you will, of going out and studying these animals at great levels.

And we’ve been able to garner quite a bit about their biology in those areas, I think. One of the spots that we know very little about the white shark is the Atlantic Ocean. And perhaps, this change in ecosystem that we’re going through up here in New England, may begin to provide us some access to these animals so we can start to tease away some aspects of their biology.

FLATOW: And you are involved in tagging sharks, are you not?

Dr. SKOMAL: Correct, correct. Yeah, last year we had a chance, for the first time, to put satellite-based technology tags on white sharks in this area, and we are already getting insights into their biology from those tags.

And already this year, we’ve placed four tags out, and we hope to be able to continue to do that over the course of the next month.

FLATOW: How do you get, you know, how do you know when it is time to reopen these beaches that have been closed?

Dr. SKOMAL: Well, you know, the local municipalities are in charge of those beaches, and all we can do at the Division of Marine Fisheries is provide information to those folks who are making these decisions.

You know, we’d like to provide real-time information on the presence of sharks as acquired through our research activities so they can make well-founded decisions on opening and closing beaches.

FLATOW: What are the odds of getting bitten by a shark?

Dr. SKOMAL: Well, you yourself indicated that the last fatal attack in Massachusetts was back in the 1930s. So that gives you a sense of what the probability is. That being said, I think it’s important to realize when you place people in close proximity to the prey of sharks, namely gray seals, you could potentially increase the risk modestly.

So I think it’s important for people to make wise decisions when getting in the water and choose areas that may be free of white shark prey.

FLATOW: Henry(ph) in Aurora, Illinois. Hi, welcome to SCIENCE FRIDAY.

HENRY (Caller): Hello there. Being landlocked, I just have an idea that possibly, there’s less fish out there for the sharks to feed on because you could ask any fishermen why are they still in port. And the sharks will wander farther around, looking for food. That’s my idea. Thank you.

FLATOW: You’re welcome.

Dr. SKOMAL: Well, I’ll tell you, that’s an interesting point, and it points to fisheries management and population management and the importance of looking at bait species and to find relationships between sharks and their prey and whether or not we’re, you know, overexploiting their prey and forcing sharks to other areas to exploit other resources.

That being said, I think it’s well-defined, the behavior of the white shark, when it comes to feeding, these animals are clearly going through, clearly prefer larger prey, namely marine mammals and specifically seals and sea lions.

So I think what we have going on off the coast of New England is actually just a national predator-prey relationship and not anything exacerbated, perhaps, by humans.

FLATOW: Let’s go to Roy(ph) in Sumter, South Carolina. Hi, Roy.

ROY (Caller): Hi, thank you so much for taking the call and specifically on this topic. It’s always been an interest. I’ve been recreational fishing in the Atlantic for 30 years. And over the last three or four years, we’ve noticed a tremendous increase in the number of small sharks that we’re catching.

It used to be something, we may catch one shark every two or three trips, and now we probably catch 10 sharks every trip. These we refer to them as bonnetheads. I dont know if that’s an accurate terminology, about a three, three-and-a-half-foot long shark, always catch them on the bottom, never catch them trawling. And I’ll take my answer off the air, but again, thank you so much for this topic.

FLATOW: All right. Could there be many big sharks because there are a lot more little sharks now?

Dr. SKOMAL: Well, you know, the bonnethead is indeed a species. It’s considered to be a healthy population off the Southeastern U.S., according to the fisheries’ statisticians. It’s not a fish that’s heavily exploited commercially, although it is sold in some numbers, and recreational fishermen like to catch it, as well.

You know, there are some folks who believe – some scientists who believe that with the removal of very, very large sharks that consume these smaller sharks, we’re seeing more species, you know, more smaller sharks out there. That may be the case, although it hasn’t been clearly demonstrated by scientists.

So it’s an area where there is quite a bit of work, but we have no real conclusions yet.

FLATOW: Have sharks been over hunted?

Dr. SKOMAL: In certain parts of the world with certain populations, absolutely. We have enough information on, for example, the dusky shark to indicate that that population off the Eastern U.S. has been overexploited and reduced dramatically.

The same is true for the sandbar shark. For other populations of sharks, they continue to be robust, and I think the bonnethead falls into that.

FLATOW: All right, let me go to Mark(ph) in New Britain, Connecticut. Hi, Mark.

MARK (Caller): Hi, thanks for taking my call. As you said, I’m in Connecticut, and I’ve noticed changes in the water temperature of Long Island Sound. It’s been creeping up, year over year, and I’m wondering if the climatic changes, increases in ocean temperature, are a possible source of increased activity.

FLATOW: Good question.

Dr. SKOMAL: Yes, an excellent question, one we anticipate a lot of research trying to answer over the course of the next decade. We know that with climate change and global warming, we’re going to see changes in the structure of fish populations in terms of the diversity of species, with a shift north of tropical species.

And it has been demonstrated for some, already. I imagine with warming water temperatures in Long Island Sound, you’re going to see a change in the fish diversity in that body of water, as well.

So, you know, it’s an area that we’re going into. We anticipate changes, and some of them have been documented. In terms of sharks, we haven’t seen any kind of dramatic shift as of yet, but some of the species that typically occur south of Cape Cod and not north, have indeed been starting to creep around the Cape. So we’re starting to see some indications that the fish populations, including sharks, are changing.

FLATOW: Steve(ph) in Cambridge, Mass. Hi, Steve.

STEVE (Caller): Hey, how are you doing? Thanks for taking the call. Great show. I think the shark thing is just a bunch of media hype, frankly. I mean, it just, you know, it makes people tune into the news shows, and I’m not sure there’s any more or less. I just think the sightings are more – maybe because there’s more fishermen out there.

But I was wondering if you might know why there’s a lot more jellyfish in the bay this year.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Dr. SKOMAL: Well, you bring up a couple of excellent points, and a lot of the shark phenomenon, or shark frenzy, if you will, is driven by the media – and it’s something we have to deal with all the time.

I can tell you that some of the shark sightings data absolutely indicate a shift that’s going on over with white sharks, and some of it’s just generated by a media frenzy. Somebody sees a fin, it may not be a shark fin, but it gets reported as such, and that just compounds upon itself.

I wish I could be of more help with you with jellyfish. I’ve been hearing a lot of folks complain about jellyfish in the bay over the last several weeks, but unfortunately, I study things a lot bigger.

FLATOW: All right, we’ll have to take a look at that, with some jellyfish folks, on a future program. But I want to thank you for taking time to be with us today.

Dr. SKOMAL: Oh, my pleasure. It’s great to be here.

FLATOW: Have a good weekend.

Dr. SKOMAL: Yes, you, too.

FLATOW: Greg Skomal is a senior biologist in the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries in New Bedford, Mass., and he was joining us by phone from there.

When we come back, we’re going to switch to electric cars, plug-ins. Do you want a plug-in? How about a Chevy Volt or a Nissan Leaf? We’re going to compare the two. Maybe you could talk to us about what you’d like to see the perfect plug-in to be. What would you are these two cars the kind you might purchase? If not, what do you want to have?

Our number, 1-800-989-8255. You can tweet us @scifri, @-S-C-I-F-R-I, or go to our website at sciencefriday.com, where you can chat around with some folks that way.

So stay with us. We’ll be right back after the break.

(Soundbite of music)

FLATOW: I’m Ira Flatow. This is SCIENCE FRIDAY from NPR.

For years, a running joke among swimmers and surfers frequenting Los Angeles County beaches has been that they had more to fear from a mild sunburn or parking ticket than a possible encounter with a hungry shark.

But no one is laughing in New England, where a recent string of great white shark sightings has prompted beach closures.

Or in San Diego, where a swimmer was attacked and killed by a white shark in April 2008.

But in waters off local beaches, white shark sightings are relatively rare. Or are they?

Experts, pointing to relatively new tracking technology, say the massive creatures are migrating down the coast to Baja California, through Santa Monica Bay.

Waters off Los Angeles County beaches are also a congregating place for their offspring.

“There is a known occurrence in the summer of juvenile great white sharks in Santa Monica Bay,” said Steve Blair, an assistant curator with the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific.

Blair said he was unaware of any shark attacks on humans in the area and it’s difficult to pinpoint specific migration tendencies among white sharks – including why they tend to linger off local coastal waters.

“They’re hard to study because they’re so large – you can’t handle them or catch them easily,” Blair said. “And they’re really not that common.”

The species has been protected in California waters since 1994, according to the California Department of Fish and Game.

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Experts say white sharks, which were added to international endangered species lists in 2004, like to feast on fish and seals, rather than oceangoers as depicted in the 1975 film “Jaws.”

Most attacks on humans, they say, stem from curiosity or mistaken identity – sharks mistaking a wet suit-clad surfer for a seal, for example.

Revelations about the white shark’s migration down the Southern California coast have been made possible through the efforts of researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium who have been tagging white sharks off Ventura and Los Angeles beaches and monitoring their movement.

Based on tracking data, sharks are swimming through waters from Santa Barbara south to Mexico, said Ken Peterson, a Monterey Bay Aquarium spokesman.

Since the program began in 2002, about 38 juvenile white sharks have been tagged off Southern California coastal beaches.

Waters off Will Rogers State Beach and Malibu have historically been known to attract white sharks, Blair said.

“There are certain areas they’re attracted to,” he said. “Any areas that include large populations of seals and sea lions.”

Sightings have also been reported near San Onofre State Beach in northern San Diego County, Huntington Beach, the Channel Islands and throughout the Central and Northern California coast, including the Farallon Islands off San Francisco.

Despite the sightings, attacks on humans are rare.

But websites dedicated to forecasting surf are rife with user-submitted notices of alleged shark sightings throughout the Santa Monica Bay.

“They’re frequently incorrect,” Blair said. “Sharks are commonly misidentified.”

Los Angeles County lifeguard officials said there have not been any recent shark sightings off South Bay beaches.

During the past two decades, there have been a string of shark sightings in waters off South Bay beaches, highlighted by a sighting in July 1978 of a rare hammerhead shark near the Manhattan Beach Pier.

In 2008, stunned whale watchers gathering at the Point Vicente Interpretive Center in Rancho Palos Verdes watched as a great white shark attacked a sea lion from underneath, throwing the animal in the air before crushing it with its jaws, according to a report in the Daily Breeze.

And in August 1982, two commercial shark hunters snagged a 16-foot female great white shark off Point Dume near Malibu.

The shark, too large to put aboard their boat, was towed to San Pedro, where a large crowd gathered to see the shark weighed. It died on the journey back to the harbor.

“All this just because of the movie `Jaws,”‘ one of the fishermen, Craig Williams, said while the massive creature hung on display for the growing crowd. “It’s not really that big a deal.”

via Great white sharks in SoCal waters may not be so rare – The Daily Breeze.

It might come as unwelcome news to swimmers and surfers, but great white sharks appear to be mounting a comeback off California.

“I think there are more sharks,” Christopher Lowe, a professor at Cal State Long Beach and director of the university’s Shark Lab, said during an exclusive phone interview. “And that’s not a bad thing; it’s a good thing.”

It’s the first declaration by a prominent shark researcher that a recovery of the embattled great white shark — the world’s most notorious predator — seems to be occurring.

A longstanding statewide ban on fishing for white sharks, an increased survival rate among young white sharks because of fishing gear restrictions, and an expanding sea lion population as a prey source are chief reasons for the comeback.

Lowe, who has performed extensive tagging of juvenile white sharks off Southern California and has pored over data dating back generations, said personal observations and increased incidental catch rates of small white sharks by commercial fishermen help support his contention.

Salvador Jorgensen, leader of the white shark research team at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station, did not disagree with Lowe’s assessment but was more guarded when asked for a response.

“If what we are seeing is truly an increase in the white shark population that would be a relief,” Jorgensen said. “Currently we are finding that the total number of adult white sharks along the west coast of North America is much smaller than many people expected.”

While the prospect of great whites multiplying off the Golden State might trouble beachgoers, particularly in the middle of summer, Lowe said he does not believe a growing population would result in more attacks on humans.

“The fact that we see so few adult white sharks around populated areas tends to suggest that they don’t want to be around places where people are,” the scientist said. “People aren’t being bumped. People aren’t being hit. My guess is that sharks are actually avoiding areas of high human population.”

Southern California is a nursery area for juvenile great whites, who feed on small fishes, rays and other sharks during the summer months. Some of these sharks, measuring to about seven feet, are seen each summer by beachgoers.

There have been only eight fatalities attributed to white sharks off California dating to 1926, according to the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File. The last fatality involved an attack by an adult white shark on a swimmer off a northern San Diego County beach in April 2008.

White sharks are found in all major oceans and “red-listed” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as a globally threatened species. The California Department of Fish and Game banned fishing for white sharks in 1994 because of concern for their survival.

Jorgensen said a joint population study of adult white sharks by Stanford University, U.C. Davis and Montana State University is still under peer review, so he could not volunteer a number. Lowe and his colleagues also have produced a scientific paper under review, supporting a recovery. “Like Sal, I’m a little hesitant to reveal too much until the paper is fully accepted, but I think the data look pretty strong,” Lowe said.

Adult great whites congregate each fall near elephant seal rookeries off Central California. A separate population gathers during the same period at remote Guadalupe Island west of Baja California.

Adult great whites congregate each fall near elephant seal rookeries off Central California. A separate population gathers during the same period at remote Guadalupe Island west of Baja California.

Among the threats white sharks have faced globally are trophy hunting for jaws and teeth — which became widespread after the release of the movie “Jaws” in the mid-1970s — and commercial fishing for fins and flesh.

It almost seems implausible, in an era during which so many species of sharks are overfished and believed to be in decline, that any species could mount a comeback.

But considering the changing landscape off California, a comeback and its timing make sense. The ban on fishing for white sharks — for sport or commercially — was imposed in 1994. That same year, voters approved a measure outlawing the deployment of gillnets within three miles of the California coast.

In Southern California, this zone is where juvenile white sharks spend the summer preying on small fishes, rays and other sharks, before swimming into warmer Mexican waters during the winter.

White sharks are still being caught unintentionally beyond the three-mile mark — The increase in these captures is what helps support evidence of a comeback — but those sticking closer to shore are no longer imperiled by the indiscriminate nets, until they venture into Mexican waters.

Adult white sharks, meanwhile, now have a seemingly endless bounty of sea lions on which to prey, along with the elephant seals they prefer.

Sea lions, once routinely slaughtered by fishermen, were spared under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. Ten years later, their population was estimated at 145,000 in a range from the Sea of Cortez within Mexico to British Columbia, Canada, with only 50,000 in the Southern California Bight.

According to the most recent National Marine Fisheries Service estimate, there there are at least 238,000 sea lions in U.S. waters, the majority of which reside off Southern California.

“So if you add those two things together, you’ve got a restored forage base for the adults and you’ve got better survivorship of the pups,” Lowe said. “So what we think we’re seeing from the fishery catch data and some of the other anecdotal pieces, is the actual recovery of the white shark population.”

The biologist added that while Southern Californians should not expect a spike in shark attacks on humans, those who spend lots of time in or near the ocean might witness more sea lions with bite marks, and more surface attacks by white sharks on the pinnipeds.

“I think the white shark population is going to do what it’s supposed to do: help regulate marine mammal populations,” Lowe said, explaining that apex predators play a vital role in maintaining a healthy marine ecosystem.

To be sure, fishermen whose livelihoods are threatened by pesky sea lions, which decimate catches and destroy gear, will cheer alongside marine conservation groups for more signs of a white shark comeback.

Swimmers and surfers? They’re probably not so enthusiastic.

via White sharks making a comeback off California, expert says – Outdoors, action and adventure.

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A Wilmington man kicks a shark and then gets attacked. Josh Clement, 25, was surfing off Figure Eight Island with some friends Saturday. About 3 p.m., he caught a wave in. As he was jumping back on his board to paddle back out, he accidentally kicked the shark. He says the shark then turned and bit his left foot.

Clement is recovering in Raleigh, but he told us about the attack today by phone.

“I honestly thought that I lost my foot,” Clement said. “I mean it happened, and it hit so hard, I thought I lost my foot, and I couldn’t look back to see if my foot was there and finally I got to see if my foot was still around my leg. Of course it scared me to death, but it all comes with the territory. You’re out there in the ocean and they’re out there as well.”

Clement got six stitches. He has no idea what kind of shark it was, but he says he could tell when he kicked it, it was a big one.

This is the fourth shark attack between Topsail Island and Myrtle Beach in the last six weeks.

via Shark bites surfer off Figure Eight Island | WWAY NewsChannel 3 | Wilmington NC News.

The Summer of the Shark 2010 continues, with two fishermen recently claiming they snagged a Great White off the coast of St. Augustine. They say they had to cut it loose because their boat was not big enough. Florida’s shark authority is not surprised. University of Florida Biologist, George Burgess manages the International Shark Attack file at UF. He says these animals are not uncommon in Florida waters, although it is unusual to see them during the summer. For swimmers who are concerned about the water, Burgess says don’t worry, great whites— despite what you see in the movies— prefer today’s catch rather than the land lover special. Burgess says there are many other species of shark much more common to Florida’s coastal waters… He notes before summer’s end, we can expect to hear about more eye witness shark encounters… He says this is the case not necessarily because there are more sharks in the water, but simply because there are more people in the water, and more sharks in proximity to them this time of year.

via Great White spotted off coast of St. Augustine – News – AM850.com – WRUF AM – Gainesville, Florida.

BETHUNE BEACH — As Judy Fischman swam in the Atlantic Ocean here Thursday, she suddenly found herself lifted above the water on the back of a large dark animal.

“My first thought was ‘I hope this is a manatee,’ ” Fischman said Friday. “Then I saw the black tail.”

“Shark,” she thought. “Then I saw other sharks and I thought, ‘My God, how am I going to escape a whole group of sharks?’ ”

From her vantage point on the street overlooking the scene, Martha Williams wondered the same thing.

Williams and her husband Ron had stepped out of their car to look out at the ocean. They first noticed a woman swimming alone, a couple hundred feet off shore. It was about 7:15 p.m. Then, as they watched, she said sharks appeared in the water, swimming parallel to the shore between the beach and the lone swimmer.

“I said to Ron, ‘Oh my God, I hope they totally ignore her, just don’t even see her.’ Then all of a sudden they all veer off and they’re all heading to her,” Williams said Friday. “I about screamed and said, ‘Oh my God, oh my God, they’re heading right to her, right to her.’ ”

As they watched, the ocean surface around Fischman erupted in churning water and the swimmer was suddenly lifted above the surface of the wave, arms and legs flailing, she said. “It was just so frightening.”

Back in the water, Fischman said she realized she “was on the back of a huge shark. There was another shark next to me.”

“I screamed,” she said, “but I don’t remember what I screamed.”

Fischman said she remembered advice she’d seen on television for fighting off sharks — giving them “a good punch and let them know you could hurt them.” She started punching the animal. As it seemed to roll on its side, she said it seemed to sort of wrap its tail around her.

“Then a wave came. All of a sudden they were gone,” she said. “They probably realized I’m not food and let go.”

“Maybe they thought I was a seal,” she said. “I had on a black bathing suit.”

Ron Williams ran down to the beach expecting to find the swimmer in need of medical attention, but instead she walked back to shore.

“It was really something,” Martha Williams said.

Fischman told her story to a Beach Patrol officer Thursday night, and on Friday afternoon, Fischman and Martha Williams spoke with George Burgess, director of the shark attack file at the University of Florida. Burgess isn’t yet sure what kind of animal surfaced under Fischman. He said it could have been a shark, or it could have been some kind of dolphin or small whale.

Williams and Fischman agreed to fill out witness statements for Burgess and he’ll try to figure out whether it was a shark encounter.

“It was possible it was a shark attack,” he said. “It’s also possible it was an encounter with a marine mammal.”

Sharks were spotted elsewhere in Volusia and Brevard counties on Thursday.Volusia’s Fischman swims regularly for exercise and said she often sees sharks. She likes to swim far enough out to get past the breakers, in water not quite 6 feet deep.

Fischman, a Bethune Beach resident since 2002, figured maybe a guardian angel was watching out for her. She emerged from the encounter with nothing but scrapes on her legs. And, she headed right back into the water on Friday afternoon.

She’s also had some close encounters with manatees during the past couple of years. “It’s very startling,” she said. “You can get lifted out of the water.”

via Woman: Shark took me for a ride – News.

It’s been 74 years, but Martin Smith remembers it like it was yesterday.

“Where the shark was, was about there,” he said, pointing to spot off of Buzzards Bay.

Smith witnessed the last fatal shark attack in Massachusetts.  The year was 1936 and Smith was just 13 years old.  While vacationing in Mattapoisett with family during the summer, the commotion started.

The Standard-Times reported a 16-year-old Joseph Troy, from Dorchester, had been bitten by a 6-foot shark less than fifty yards from the shore.  Smith saw the aftermath.

“It looked like a five pound roast beef or pot roast or something had been ripped out of his upper thigh and it was bleeding,” said Smith.  “He was sort of twitching.  He was pretty much unconscious, he would moan a little.”

Smith says they brought him to shore in a dinghy and used a door for a stretcher.  While the adults rushed Troy to the hospital, Smith was told to clean the blood out from the dinghy.

“It’s still very clear,” said Smith.

Troy died at the hospital.  The moment left a deep impression on Smith, now 87 years old.

“I never swam in deep water again,” said Smith.

Around town, Smith still shocks people with his first-hand account.  A part of living history, he hopes never repeats itself.

via Eye Witness Martin Smith Recalls Mass.’ Last Fatal Shark Attack From 1936 – wbztv.com.

CBS  Clayton Schulz told his worried mom nothing would happen when he was surfing — then something did. The 20-year-old pitcher for the University of North Florida was surfing with his girlfriend last Friday off Jacksonville Beach when a shark attacked his left foot. It took over 400 stitches to repair that damage. Pictures: Swimming with the Sharks On “The Early Show,” Schultz shared his story, saying first, hes pretty lucky to still have all five toes. He said hes lucky the shark reached his foot only. “Didnt even get into the ankle cavity,” he explained. “Tore all the flesh off, cut across the tendons, the four tendons across the top. Tore everything up, so it was pretty — you know, pretty — Im lucky to have a foot still.” The surgery took two doctors five-and-a-half hours to reattach everything except one tendon. Schulz, a surfer for eight years, said hes heard about shark attacks, but never imagined one coming after him. He said, “Sharks are always there, year-round, you see them jumping in the distance and stuff, but its never — you never think it would be you. Its such a rare — I mean, youre more likely to get struck by lightning, so its very rare. But you never think its going to be you.” Schulz explained he was surfing about 100 yards out when he caught a wave in to shore. Thats when he felt it: “All I really felt was teeth,” he said. “I dont remember everything exactly to the point, but — a lot of teeth.” He said he knew it was a shark. “I pretty much knew the way it grabbed my foot,” he said. “It was kind of violent. Didnt feel good.” After the shark let go, Schulz hauled himself onto his board, stunned. He said, “I told the others — there was another surfer there away from me and I yelled to him, I said, Man, I just got attacked by a shark, can you help me out here? He said, paddle in. I caught a wave in. He got the lifeguard. I crawled up on the beach, I waved at my girlfriend. She was laying there. I was like, Come on, I just got bit.” Jacksonville lifeguards ushered Schulz to an ambulance. As for the shark, Schulz said no one else saw it after his bite. Schulz said, “It went through my mind when I was paddling in, Is this thing following me? But, no, never saw it after that. You know, Im lucky. The surgeons did a great job. You know, when I first saw it after the surgery, it looks like a foot, still looks like a foot and it didnt look like a foot before.” The shark was so elusive, Schulz never even saw it — he only felt it. Schulz told “Early Show” co-anchor Erica Hill, “Never saw it. It was completely by surprise. You know, when you think shark, you think, you know, farther out than everybody else, but it was actually more in towards the shore. Thats why it really caught me off guard.” Will he surf again? “Yeah, I think I will,” Schulz said. “Its a scary thing, but the chance — if I get bitten twice, then — ” “Then you should look out for the lightning,” Hill joked. Schulz said, “Thats the sign I need to get out of the water.”

via Shark Attack Victim: “All I Felt Was Teeth” – The Early Show – CBS News.

MICKLERS LANDING, Fla. — St. Johns Fire Rescue said a swimmer was pulled from the surf at Micklers Landing about 11 a.m. Monday with an apparent shark bite.The middle-aged woman was in stable condition when transferred to the Mayo Clinic for treatment.Rescuers said the woman who was visiting from out of town was in chest-deep water when she saw the 3- to 4-foot-long shark coming directly at her. They said she blocked it with her arm, and the shark dug in.”She screamed, I just got attacked by a shark. Everybody get out of the water,” witness Jen Moe said. “She came running at me, screaming. I looked at her arm and it was just shredded.”Witnesses said about 50-75 people who were in the water at the time of the attack ran for the sand when the victim screamed.Video: Shark Attacks Woman In Surf Related Story: Expert Debunks Shark Repelling Myths”When we came out, I saw her arm was all bloody, and everyone was like, She must have gotten bit by a shark,” swimmer Matt Myers said. “And then all the lifeguards started blowing their whistles and telling everyone to come back in.”Rescuers said what made the shark attack unusual was that the water was crystal clear and, according to experts, shark attacks are usually the result of mistaken identity, but in this case it appears the shark was headed right for the woman.”She was in shock, literally, that fast. She was just holding her arm, screamed a couple times,” Moe said.The victim was able to walk to the beach where she was helped by lifeguards.Ironically, its Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, and beachgoer Trecia Todd said that makes the attack even more odd.”We watched about two hours of survivors of shark bites, how they had punched them and bit them and got away and survived and was telling their stories, and we laughed about coming to the beach today and seeing a shark,” Todd said. “Ironically, we didnt see the shark, but theres evidence of sharks in the water.”If this were confirmed as a shark bite, it would be the third attack in local waters in the past two months. The previous two were at Jacksonville Beach, one on June 10 and another on July 23.

via Shark Shreds Tourists Arm – Jacksonville News Story – WJXT Jacksonville.

CHATHAM — Town officials closed South Beach for swimming indefinitely yesterday after a spotter plane located at least five great white sharks off the coast.

Audio: Globe reporter Jack Nicas talks about spotting sharks from a helicopter off the coast of Chatham.

“They’re spread all up and down that beach,’’ said pilot George Breen, 66, who spotted three great whites during morning flights with a Globe reporter and photographer, and three sharks on his flight home to Falmouth.

He believes the sightings represented at least five distinct sharks, based on location and timing.

Around 1:30 p.m., after receiving radio reports from Breen, Harbormaster Stuart Smith banned swimming at South Beach, which was closed last year after five great whites were tagged around Labor Day. Yesterday’s beach closing was the state’s first because of sharks this year, although many sunbathers ignored the prohibition.

South Beach is a 4.5-mile peninsula accessible only by boat or foot that extends south off the elbow of Cape Cod. Swimming has been banned on its eastern coast.

“It is remote and rural, but it’s popular,’’ Smith said.

Just before 11 a.m. yesterday, two 12- to 14-foot great whites swam 200 yards apart, about a quarter-mile off South Beach.

To the north, another great white was swimming back and forth about 100 yards off the beach. Breen estimated the shark was 14 feet long, weighed 1,500 pounds, and was swimming along the ocean floor at a depth of 12 to 15 feet.

“They’ll even go closer than that. They’ll hang out in the white water,’’ Breen said as he circled the plane 500 feet up. “He’s just cruising the beach.’’

About 100 yards from where a great white swam, 33 children and adults at a family birthday party were lounging and playing Frisbee on the sand. Near their semicircle of chairs, seaweed spelled out “Happy 30th!’’

As Breen flew back to Falmouth around 1 p.m., he spotted three sharks, all within 100 yards of the coast. He said one off South Beach was probably a shark he had seen hours earlier, but the other two were too far south to have been the same sharks. One was near the middle of Monomoy Island, a national wildlife refuge popular with seals, and another was a mile north of the island’s tip.

In more than 30 years of flying spotter planes, Breen said he had seen “only a handful’’ of great whites before last summer, but he saw a dozen in one day in September and has seen sharks seven out of the eight days he has flown this summer.

He directed researchers to the great white that was tagged off South Beach Tuesday, but said he saw five other great whites that day.

The number of confirmed shark sightings off the Massachusetts coast this summer is approaching 20. But state biologist Dr. Gregory Skomal said the count is meaningless because many sightings could have been of the same shark.

In an attempt to more accurately count the sharks and to study them, Breen, Skomal, and commercial fishermen Bill and Nick Chaprales plan to head out today in a plane and a boat to tag great whites off Chatham.

The sharks are attracted to the area’s thriving seal population, which is growing because of the seals’ protected status, said Skomal, a shark expert with the Division of Marine Fisheries.

Thousands of seals lounged on sand bars yesterday and rolled in the waves breaking along the swoops of the Chatham coast.

Meanwhile, dozens of people relaxed on the sand of South Beach and some went in for a swim, despite the ban.

After exiting the water, Nicola Massarotti, 39, of Naples, said he thought there was little chance of an attack by a great white.

“I’d be more afraid to be hit by a car than to get in a shark accident,’’ he said.

But because of the sharks, John Roussel , 44, of Vernon Hills, Ill., said this is the first summer he will not take his son boogie boarding off South Beach.

“I just don’t want to take the chance,’’ said his son, James, 15.

At the birthday party where a shark had swam nearby, many were nonchalant. Nearly all had gone swimming in the morning, and 12 of the partiers said they went in the water even after the harbor patrol boat came by and asked them not to.

“We’re careful; we don’t go too far out. But I think I’m faster than a shark anyway,’’ joked the birthday girl, Hallie Smith, 30, of Chatham.

Breen, who has probably seen more sharks off South Beach than anyone, said the swimming ban is well advised.

“People say there hasn’t been a shark attack since 1936 in Massachusetts,’’ he said. “Well, I’ve been flying out here [for] 30 years and I’ve never seen sharks near the beach. If the sharks aren’t there, they’re not going to attack you. But now they are, so it’s a whole different story.’’

via Shark sightings close a Cape Cod beach – The Boston Globe.