Friday morning’s fatal shark attack off Vandenberg Air Force Base’s Surf Beach that killed a UCSB student was the first in mainland Santa Barbara County’s history.

Lucas Ransom, 19, died of his injuries after a great white shark bit his left leg and pulled him off his boogie board. The Romoland native was a junior majoring in chemical engineering.

Andrew Hughan, a spokesman for the California Department of Fish & Game, told Noozhawk on Monday that it was the 13th California shark attack fatality since the DFG began keeping records 95 years ago.

He confirmed that the shark involved in the attack was a great white, estimated at 14 to 16 feet in length based on the bite marks and bite pattern on the boogie board and victim. Photographs of Ransom’s boogie board showed bite measuring about 13 inches wide at the largest part.

Hughan said great whites are “the perfect predator,” and they swiftly attack without warning. Though they have poor eyesight, movement attracts them, and a person on a board can easily be mistaken for a seal or other food source. He said they also maintain a bit of secrecy, as they can’t be kept in captivity for long and it’s not clear why.

Scuba divers and spear fishers are advised to keep their fish away from them — even if they aren’t bleeding — and anyone in the ocean should avoid wearing shiny objects or sharply contrasting colors, such as a wetsuit with a bright yellow stripe, he said. But he said none of those matter as much as luck.

“It’s really fate, unfortunately,” Hughan said.

Worldwide, there were 61 attacks in 2009, five of them fatal, according to the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File. California’s last fatal attack was in 2008, when a swimmer was killed off the coast of Solana Beach.

“We caution people to remember they’re in (sharks’) territory,” Hughan said. “They’re a wild animal.”

Great whites are suspected to have been involved in two other local incidents: A shark bit a man’s surfboard at Surf Beach in 2008, and a diver was fatally attacked off the coast of San Miguel Island in 1994.

Earlier this year, there were at least three instances of great whites attacking sea lions around Santa Barbara Island, prompting Channel Islands National Park officials to issue a warning to the public.

Shark attacks get a lot of attention for a reason — they’re rare. Dozens more people get killed by deer (through car crashes), snakes and dogs each year than sharks in the United States.

Surf Beach reopened to the public at 8 a.m. Monday, as there were no observed or reported shark sightings at any base beaches since being closed after the attack, VAFB said in a statement.

There are additional signs posted that warn of the recent attack, and Santa Barbara County officials have done the same for beaches in the Lompoc area. VAFB’s Minuteman and Wall beaches are not open to the public and remain closed for the base’s two-week inspection period, Lt. Ann Blodzinski said in a statement.

A memorial and paddle-out is planned for Thursday near Ransom’s hometown in Southern California.

Click here for tips for avoiding a shark attack, visit the National Parks Conservation Association’s website. Click here for more information about region-specific shark attack statistics.

via Fatal Attack by Great White Shark a First for Santa Barbara County – Noozhawk.com.

COOS BAY — An Oregon man says a great white shark knocked him off his surfboard near Winchester Bay.

David Lowden told “The World” newspaper in Coos Bay that he was paddling his board last week near the south jetty of the Umpqua River when a shark he estimated at nearly 14 feet broke the surface behind him.

“As I’m flying off the board, I got a good look at the shape of the shark,” said Lowden, who was not injured in the encounter.

The shark emerged halfway from the water and broke the fins off his surfboard.

“That probably scared it a bit. It thrashed around a bit … and after that it disappeared,” he said.

Lowden, 29, and another man surfed to the beach while a third surfer, Lowden’s friend, Mark Lorincz, of North Bend, clambered onto the jetty and ditched his board.

Lowden phoned the U.S. Coast Guard to report the encounter, then contacted the Shark Research Committee, a private group that tracks shark attack data.

A release from that organization characterized it as an “unprovoked shark attack.” It was the only recorded attack this year in Oregon, and the fifth along the Pacific Coast.

Alan Shanks, a professor at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology in Charleston, said the encounter described by Lowden is typical shark behavior.

Shanks said great white sharks often attack from below to stun seals, sea lions and other large prey.

“These guys are primarily big-thing eaters,” Shanks said. “A surfboard from below has a silhouette not unlike a marine mammal.”

Lowden said local surfers frequently see sharks. He has spotted six sharks while surfing on the Oregon coast, including one that bumped his board in 2006.

“I wasn’t that surprised, to tell you the truth,” Lowden said. “It’s not the first time I’ve had an encounter.”

via Oregon man reports encounter with great white shark | statesmanjournal.com | Statesman Journal.

Khanyisile Momoza, 29, was attacked as he harvested valuable perlemoen shells in the waters near Gansbaai in South Africa.

The fisherman was among a group of 12 poachers who had tried to swim to safety after spotting the shark in shallow waters.

A friend of Mr Momoza, who witnessed the attack, said: “There was screaming and crying. We just swam, we didn’t look back.

“We were swimming in a group but he was a bit behind us.

“It jumped out of the water with him and then it took him down.”

The attack took place on Tuesday between Dyer Island and Pearly Beach, east of Cape Town.

In an interview with the Weekend Argus local newspaper, the victim’s friend told how the poaching group had left the beach at 6am and swum for two hours before reaching the island three miles offshore, where they began hunting for perlemoen shellfish.

The men were swimming back to shore with their catch when the great white approached.

The survivors admitted they had been too scared for their own lives to help the stricken swimmer and raced back to dry land.

Once ashore the group alerted authorities to the tragedy.

Illegal harvesting of perlemoen is big business in South Africa, where the valuable shellfish are common along coastal areas.

The molluscs’ fleshy insides are considered a delicacy similar to oysters, and either served raw or cooked in seafood dishes.

But widespread farming of the shells has sparked fears the population could plummet.

In 2007 South African authorities listed the species, also known as abalone, as endangered with the global wildlife protection body CITES.

The restrictions were loosened in July this year, although it remains illegal to harvest perlemeon without a licence.

However hundreds of local fishermen are believed to continue to work in the illegal trade.

Many poor workers risk arrest or injury to hunt for the wild shells, whose meat can be worth up to £25 a kilo.

The shark attack victim’s friend told the Argus his group went perlemoen fishing around once a week and needed the money to provide food for their families.

Gans Bay, known in Afrikaans as Gansbaai, is famously the centre of South Africa’s great white shark population.

In recent years some experts have warned the increase in commercial “shark dive tourism” has encouraged great whites to inhabit shallower waters.

Every day hundreds of tourists pay to experience a close encounter with the creatures, which are enticed with food to come close to boats.

Some fear the sharks are now commonly inhabiting waters where humans are more likely to be swimming or working.

The poacher is the second person this year to be killed by a shark in South Africa.

In January tourist Lloyd Skinner was killed by a great white as he swam a few metres off the beach in Fish Hoek near Cape Town.

Shocked holiday-makers watched from the shore as the 47-year-old was pulled underwater.

via Poacher killed by great white shark – Telegraph.

Ever since Jaws, great whites have had a reputation as killing machines that has never seemed much point questioning.

However, that could all be about to change – after a study into the fearsome predators’ dining habits.

Scientists towed a 36ft Brydes whale carcass into a well-known hunting ground for the animals in an exercise aimed at documenting how they tackled the huge free lunch.

And these amazing pictures show how up to 30 of them stripped a single whale carcass – and gave an ‘extraordinary’ insight into how the much-feared predators behave.

But while many would have expected a feeding frenzy and potentially lethal fights between the razor-teethed gians, the behaviour observed was quite different.

The sharks appeared to select choice cuts of the dead whale and did not appear to be aggressive towards each other.

Free lunch: The 30 great white sharks were provided with a whale carcass so scientists could study their eating habits

Tasty findings: Alison Kock was the principal scientist at Save Our Seas Shark Centre and Shark Spotting Programme, at Cape Town in South Africa and was surprised by the sharks

Alison Kock, 33, the principal scientist at Save Our Seas Shark Centre and Shark Spotting Programme, at Cape Town South Africa, said: ‘Contrary to their reputation as mindless killers, the level of selectivity for which parts of the dead whale they ate was extraordinary.

‘They targeted the energy-rich blubber, often making repeated “test bites” where no flesh was removed, and removing flesh only once they had determined it was what they wanted. If they got a mouthful of muscle, they often spat it out.

‘They were very picky.’

It’s thought the huge whale was killed after being struck by a boat and was found floating towards Miller’s Point near Cape Town, South Africa, where the clean up operation for the local authorities would have been difficult as their huge bodies are harder to remove on land.

It was also feared the body – giving off oils that attract predators like sharks – may have drawn in great whites to an area frequented by swimmers.

Kock added: ‘Permission was granted by the authorities to have the dead whale towed to nearby Seal Island where the carcass was less of an issue and the sharks could help solve the clean-up problem.

‘In addition it provided an unparalleled opportunity to document white shark behaviour and record the number of sharks in the area.

‘Whale carcasses are believed to be a very important source of food for white sharks with some scientific evidence suggesting they follow whale migrations possibly to, opportunistically feed on dead or sick whales.’

Jaws: Alison Koch said: ‘Contrary to their reputation as mindless killers, the level of selectivity for which parts of the dead whale they ate was extraordinary’

Blubber: During the nine-day experiment Kock and her team made some shocking discoveries, including the fact that the sharks seemed to have a huge preference for soft blubber over tough muscle

During the nine-day experiment, which ended on Saturday, Kock and her team made some shocking discoveries, including the fact that the sharks seemed to have a huge preference for soft blubber over tough muscle.

‘In the case of the whale carcass the sharks knew exactly what they wanted,’ said Kock.

‘It provides evidence that when they bite into a surfboard, or kayak or person wearing a wetsuit they can immediately determine it’s not something they want to eat.

‘It’s very common in attacks on humans for white sharks to take a single bite and leave it at that. Our study provides more evidence that they are simply tasting and looking for meat that is nutritious. It shows that they are not just swimming around mindlessly eating everything they come across, as they are sometimes portrayed.’

She added: ‘I was surprised at the total number of white sharks that fed on the dead whale over the nine days we documented the event. We recorded over 30 different sharks in total. At one stage we had up to four white sharks feeding simultaneously on the carcass.

‘The first two days were the busiest with the most sharks, and the activity slowly decreased as the sharks had their fill. The last two days we recorded no sharks feeding on the carcass.

‘Many of the sharks I recognised as individuals hunting seals around the island from this shark season, as well as previous years. We used their unique dorsal fins to identify them, but there were also new sharks that I had never seen before.

‘The sharks showed very little aggression towards one another in the presence of such a large food source, often feeding side by side.

‘Some of the sharks we observed were gorging on the blubber and you could actually see their bellies getting fuller.

“Some would arrive quite skinny and by the end of their session they looked pregnant with their bellies bulging.’

During the study, the sharks reduced the carcass down to less than seven feet (two metres) of bone and muscle, having removed all the blubber.

Shark enthusiast Kock, added: ‘This is the ultimate example of the very important role sharks play in the ecosystem. That of recycling life, and of keeping our oceans healthy by removing dead and decaying animals like dead whales.’

via Shark attack: Incredible pictures of 30 great whites stripping a whale carcass provide ‘extraordinary’ insight into eating habits | Mail Online.

A man that was kayaking over the weekend has escaped a shark attack from one of the most dangerous shark species. Adam Coca was attacked by a great white shark while he was kayaking over the weekend in the area of Pigeon Point off the coast of San Mateo.

The man, who is 45 years of age, was fishing in his kayak in a place that is known as the ‘Red Triangle’ just off the coast of San Mateo. This area is known for being a shark area and although the kayaker might not have known this at the time, he certainly knew it when the great white shark got hold of his kayak.

The man said that the shark tipped the kayak completely over but he managed to hang on to the other side of the kayak in order to prevent the shark from getting to him. Shortly after he managed to survive the attack, his friends came to his rescue as they saw what was happening.

Adam survived the shark attack with minor injuries as he just suffered a small cut on his foot. This was certainly a lucky escape.

via Kayaker Survives Attack from Great White Shark | Daily Rosetta.

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.

Is it just me or has there been an awful lot of shark news lately? Hint: it’s not just me.

Not one, but two attacks took place last Friday when a shark bit a 6-year-old girl in South Carolina and another shark bit a 13-year-old from North Carolina. And in early June a shark bit an 18-year-old girl in Georgia. Fortunately, no limbs (or lives!) were lost.

But there have also been several shark sightings in the Hamptons near New York City, and recently and a great white shark was caught and then released in Massachusetts.

Now the U.S. National Park Service has announced that they are issuing an “enter waters at your own risk” warning for the area around Santa Barbara Island in Southern California. The Wednesday warning was due to three great white shark attacks on sea lions in the area and is in effect until further notice.

Holiday weekend, beautiful locations, and great white sharks. This sounds either like a movie plot or one of my worst nightmares.

And in a crazy coincidence, this summer marks the 35th anniversary of the release of Jaws. Which, if you didn’t already know, features one of the creepiest movie scenes ever, where the old fisherman, Quint, recounts the story of the USS Indianapolis. Terrifying!

via Shark Attack 2010: Feds Warn Southern California About Great Whites – TIME NewsFeed.

Fatal shark attacks are rare anywhere in the world, with an average of about five recorded each year globally, but in New England, it's virtually unheard of.

Sightings near local beaches, however, have become an annual occurrence.

A sighting Saturday, which was captured by a Coast Guard camera off York Beach, Maine, appears to be a pair of juvenile basking sharks about 12 feet long, said Dr. John Mandelman, a research biologist at the New England Aquarium.

Though basking sharks are considered harmless to humans, with no positive species identification to work with over the weekend, lifeguards at Hampton Beach patrolled the waters for anything unusual.

“Any large animal, depending on what constitutes a threat, is potentially hazardous in their natural environment due to their sheer size,” Mandelman said. “But a basking shark would never attack a human. They are called basking sharks because the theory is they bask in the sun. They are passive filter feeders.”

Basking sharks are 5 to 7 feet long when born and, in rare instances, grow to as big as 40 feet. While it's early for a sighting so far north, young basking sharks are known to wander close to shore, Mandelman said.

Another sighting a mile off Cape Neddick in southern Maine on Thursday is said to have been a 10-foot porbeagle shark.

Though the sharks are likely chasing a meal and pose little to no threat to humans, these latest shark sightings serve as a reminder that many sharks do swim in local ocean waters.

“There are 15 species of sharks that exist in New England waters that wouldn't be unusual to see in a given instance,” Mandelman said. “There are tons of sharks in New England waters that get close to shore across a myriad of species, especially in the summer months.”

In 2005, ABC news correspondent Jay Schadler, who has his art studio in Amesbury, was swimming off Plum Island when he reported seeing a shark. It, too, turned out to be a basking shark.

There are other species lurking in the deep off New England, however, including makos, tiger sharks and even great whites.

Last year, scientists were shocked by the sighting of several great white sharks off Monomoy Island near Chatham over Labor Day weekend, five of which were tagged for future study. The sharks passed within 75 yards of Hollywood Beach, prompting officials to close the beach to swimmers.

A group of fishermen looking for tuna off Dartmouth last August hooked a 624-pound mako.

And while local shark attacks aren't common, they are not unprecedented.

Joseph Troy, 16, of Dorchester, was swimming with a friend of his uncle in about 10 feet of water, an estimated 150 yards off Mattapoisett in Buzzards Bay in July 1936, when a white shark grabbed his leg and pulled him down. He was rescued and brought to shore but died in surgery.

His was the last fatal shark attack recorded in New England.

Most documented shark attacks in the U.S. take place in Hawaii or Florida, where a 38-year-old kite surfer lost his life in a shark attack in February.

Local dorsal fin sightings are much more likely to be the aforementioned basking sharks or ocean sunfish, another surface sunbather with a large fin that can be mistaken as a shark.

For swimmers, however, common sense still prevails, Mandelman said.

“Swim in pairs, don't swim at dawn or dusk, and don't swim where marine mammals are present,” he said, noting seals can sometimes attract the wrong kind of attention. “The marine mammals tend to be pretty hazardous themselves.”

via Sharks spotted off New England shores » Local News » NewburyportNews.com, Newburyport, MA.

Link

About this time each year, a fisherman catches a large, pregnant bull shark somewhere in the Tampa Bay area. The angler usually drags the shark ashore and poses, jaws agape, for the obligatory dead fish picture. Then the phone rings. “Is it still safe to swim?” a caller asks. “Of course not,” I respond. “But don’t drive either. You could get killed.” After a long, uncomfortable pause, I laugh and explain that a person is more likely to be killed doing home improvements than by a shark. But nobody ever made a movie about the inherent dangers of house painting. However, let a great white shark loose off a New England shoreline on a summer’s day and you’ve got blockbuster, a horror movie that will withstand the test of time.

Living dinosaurs

One hundred million years ago, when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, sharks dominated the ocean. Today, while highways and office buildings cover much of the planet’s land now, all that remains of those “terrible lizards” are bones and fossils.

But sharks, nature’s perfect predators, still swim supreme in the sea. Perched atop the food chain, they feed on the weak and the sick, which helps maintain nature’s balance.

Slow to grow and giving birth to only a few pups at a time, a shark’s only enemies are other sharks and humans. Sensitive to overfishing, many marine biologists fear that if too many sharks are caught and killed, entire species may disappear forever.

And thanks to the movie Jaws, sharks in general have a bad reputation that may hasten their demise.

Fact and fiction

Most people are scared of sharks. But the truth is, most sharks are just as scared of humans. Of the 350 species of sharks, only a few are known to be dangerous to humans.

Most shark attacks occur close to land. Marine biologists believe that in most cases, the shark has mistaken the swimmer or surfer for a common food source, such as a seal or large fish.

But sharks are wild animals, and all wild animals should be treated with caution and respect. Almost any large shark, 6 feet or longer, can be considered a potential threat to humans.

Three species – the white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvieri) and the bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) - are responsible for most attacks.

“People have this impression that if a shark sees you that it wants to attack,” said Brent Winner, a shark expert with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg. “But that is a myth. If you look at the records, most attacks are bite and release.”

Most attacks in Florida involve surfers in Volusia and Brevard counties.

“Surfers are in the water longer than swimmers,” Winner said. “The longer you spend in the water the more likely you are to run into a shark.”

Four near our shores

Hammerhead

The great hammerhead, which can reach lengths of 20 feet and more than 1,200 pounds, is feared as a man-eater, but in reality, this odd-looking fish is more interested in eating stingrays. Hammerheads are often found with stingray barbs sticking out of their mouths. One unfortunate specimen had been stung 50 times.

Tiger

The tiger, along with the great white and bull, is one of the world’s most dangerous carnivores. Reaching lengths of 17 feet, the tiger is an opportunistic feeder. This shark gets its name from the dark stripes that cover its body early in life but disappear as it grows older. A favorite food is sea turtle, which the tigers crush with their thick, jagged teeth.

Black tip

One of the most common inshore species of sharks, the black tip is so named because of the easily recognizable black markings on the ends of its fins. A fish-eater that feeds close to piers and beaches, black tips often swim near bathers without incident.

Bull

Possibly the most dangerous shark, the bull can live for long periods in freshwater. It has been found in the upper Amazon, 2,300 miles from the open sea, and in land-locked bodies of water, such as Lake Nicaragua. Bulls like shallow water and have been implicated in number of unprovoked attacks, including several in the Tampa Bay area.

By the numbers

1 in 11.5 million

Odds of a shark attack on a human

0 in 264.1 million

Odds of a fatal shark attack on a human

231 Number of reported shark attacks between 1956 and 2008 in Volusia County, making it the shark attack capital of the world

Play it safe

Although your chances of being killed by a bull shark are less than your chances of being struck by lightning, you can take some steps to protect yourself. Here are a few tips, courtesy of the International Shark Attack File in Gainesville:

• Avoid swimming near the mouths of rivers or bays, areas favored by bull sharks.

• Do not swim near schools of baitfish. Bull sharks may be nearby.

• When spearfishing, be ready to drop your catch. Bull sharks are attracted by speared fish.

• Avoid swimming at night or early in the morning, when sharks are most active.

Worst-case scenario

A University of Florida study showed shark attacks on humans are more likely to occur:

• On a Sunday (more people go to the beach on that day of the week, of course)

• In water less than 6 feet deep (that’s typically the depth swimmers favor at the beach)

• Between dusk and dawn (feeding time)

• During a new moon (tides influence bait)

• To those wearing black-and-white bathing suits (researchers believe the contrast is a factor)

Source: The International Shark Attack File; odds are from Year 2000 USA Beach and Injuries Fatalities report

Link

Three of seven attacks were on surfers

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 17 March, 2010 : – - There were 7 unprovoked shark attacks authenticated from the Pacific Coast of North America during 2009. All 7 of the reported attacks occurred in California and were distributed in the following months; April (1), July (1), August (2), October (1) and November (2), with 5 of the 7 attacks occurring South of the Santa Barbara/Ventura County line.

Activities of the victims were; 3 Surfing, 1 Paddle-Boarding, 1 Diving, 1Surf- Fishing, and 1 Swimming. The Great White Shark, Carcharodon carcharias, was positively identified or highly suspect as the causal species in 5 of the attacks with 1 attack attributable to the Thresher Shark, Alopias sp., and 1 unknown species.

The publication “Shark Attacks of the Twentieth Century” authenticated 108 unprovoked shark attacks from the Pacific Coast between 1900 and 1999. The Great White Shark was implicated in 94 (87%) of the attacks with an annual average of slightly more than one shark attack per year. The 7 cases reported for 2009 brings the total number of unprovoked shark attacks occurring along the West Coast during the first 9 years of the 21st Century to 49.

This is ‘more than five times’ the Twentieth Century annual average and represents 45% of the total number of attacks reported for the entire Twentieth Century, and all in less than a decade. The Great White Shark has been implicated in 41 (80%) of the 49 attacks reported during this Century. Of the 157 unprovoked shark attacks reported from the Pacific Coast since 1900, the Great White Shark has been positively identified or highly suspect in 133 (85%).

Victim activity for the 49 unprovoked shark attacks reported from the Pacific Coast since 20000 are distributed in the following groups; surfers 35 (71%) of the documented attacks with 5 (10%) swimmers, 3 (6%) kayakers, 3 (6%) divers, 2 (4%) paddle boarders, and 1 (2%) surf fishing. The number of adult, sub-adult, and juvenile Great White Sharks observed in Southern California during 2009 suggests a possible change in their population dynamics and seasonal site preferences.

The number of stranded marine mammal carcasses reported, specifically their location and time of year, would seem to support this observation. The Shark Research Committee will continue to closely monitor this activity in the coming year.

Additional information regarding the Shark Research Committee’s conservation, education, and research programs are available at:  sharkresearchcommittee.com. ‘Save the Sharks – Save the Oceans’

www.sharkresearchcommittee.com