So here I am in New England, in Massachusetts, studying other shark species.
And then seals came back and white sharks came back.
And I have the explosion of a white shark hotspot right in my backyard.
It was an incredible opportunity.
And I don't work in a vacuum.
I work with other scientists because we're trying to play catch up.
We're trying to figure out about this species for the very first time in all of the
Atlantic Ocean.
It seemed like white sharks started showing up probably 2005, 2006, and then it seemed
around 2010 to 12, we had more and more frequent sightings, more and more animals in
our water. And now it's really easy to go out and find white sharks where ten years ago
it was quite difficult.
Now I can go out on a boat trip for four hours and see 1 to 2 dozen white sharks in
the right time of year and be back by lunch.
In terms of densities, numbers of animals.
There are estimates out there.
Some say, you know, on the orders of hundreds of animals that visit these
hotspots. And that's probably very correct in terms of absolute numbers, we're getting
there. You know, I think that Cape Cod is comparable to any hotspots anywhere in the
world. We just don't have those absolute numbers yet.
The old surfer rule of thumb in the old days and we used to laugh about it and say, oh, I
saw a shark.
And then the guy next to you would say, Oh, for every one that you see, there are ten
that you don't. Well, I think that applies in this case.
That's why they don't want to talk about numbers.
The amount of sharks at our beaches swimming back and forth from Monomoy up to P-Town.
It's a terrifying thing.
The biggest question that we get is how many white sharks occur off Cape Cod each summer.
And it's one we've been working for the last five years to try to answer.
And I can tell you, counting fish is not easy, whether you're counting codfish or
great white sharks.
But we've made a very, very impressive attempt over the last several years to try to
answer that very question.
To date, they have identified over 500 individual white sharks in the north west
Atlantic population.
So when I say that, the key part I want you to keep in mind is that that habitat range
for the north west Atlantic is as far north as Canada to as far south as Florida, but to
give a number related to how many could be here at any one time, we're not able to do
that.
In order for us to successfully tag a shark, we need to have a really well orchestrated
collaborative effort between the boat and a pilot.
Got out of traffic.
Strawberry is taking the active six.
Straight out the pilot, Wayne Davis.
We've been working with for many, many years.
He's been a spotter pilot, meaning he's been gone out and looked for fish probably for 50
or 60 years of his life.
So he's been doing it a very, very long time.
And our goal is to get him up in the air and to locate white sharks that are swimming
close to Cape Cod.
If you go for more than a few minutes without seeing a shark, it's like a slow day.
I can remember at one point looking out all windows and seeing nine simultaneously.
I had a friend of mine one day who we were flying around between Race Point and Head of
the Meadows. On the Cape like a five mile stretch of beach there.
We were just saying them one right after another.
We had to say at least 70 that day.
We will mobilize the tagging vessel and head in the direction of where Wayne has spotted
that shark. And once we get close to it, we can not only videotape, identify the shark,
male and female get an estimate of its size, but also try to get a tag at the base of its
dorsal fin. So if all goes well, we can get a tag out and move on to the next shark.
We've identified as many as 23 individual sharks over a six hour period.
Numerous times I've seen sharks swimming by surfers.
Surfers don't have an idea in the world that there's anything there.
But anywhere you are, I'll guarantee you on the Cape, you are not immune to having a
shark swim by within a couple of feet of them.
They can be anywhere and they can be lots of them anywhere.
And we know the sharks are out there.
We're trying to understand what their numbers and dynamics are and what the
predator prey relationships are and how their behaviors are a little bit different
here in terms of how they're interacting with the nearshore environment.
And our lifeguards make a moment to moment decision as to whether or not they're going
to close the beach to swimming or accessing the water.
It's up to the discretion of the lifeguards that are on the scene and making that
determination for the safety of the visitors at that time.
The job I took on back in 1979 is completely different now.
I'm glad I got my soon to be 41 years of lifeguarding in already because lifeguarding
is not the job it used to be.
It's being transformed into something more of a medical position.
We're more or less there to take care of the aftermath if we get an attack on our beach.
Our responsibilities are now about how to take care of this person, to get this person
onto the beach safely.
How do you do that? How do you take care of an injury from a shark bite?
How to take care of a massive bleeding injury or wound.
To sum it up in one sentence, we've gone from Baywatch to Mash.
Sharks are feeding on seals.
They bump into a human.
Unfortunately, human flesh is very soft.
Human arteries and vessels are very close to the skin and surface of the body.
A shark bumps somebody with those incredibly sharp, serrated teeth and it becomes a shark
attack.
It's going to happen again when you don't know.
So you have to be prepared for it.
I think the goal is for the towns to get the communication improved in terms of having
call boxes down on the beaches.
They need a quicker line between communication and response.
These town officials that are sticking their heads in the sand, they're telling us that,
oh, we're doing something, we're going to have some call boxes.
Hopefully we'll have better cell phone coverage, too, so you guys can call 911 when
your leg is bit.
The greatest opportunity we have to make a difference is to do exactly what we have, and
that's improve our capability to communicate and get first responders on the scene as
quickly as possible, to train up people so that they can address traumatic injuries like
a shark incident and strive to inform people so that their behaviors can change and be
compatible with what's happening out there in the marine environment right now.
The local officials have taken a number of steps in the aftermath of Arthur's death.
Many of them are reactive in nature, and I think some of the people who
want to see action happen quicker are frustrated that there hasn't been more
attempt to come up with measures that will prevent shark attacks as opposed to reacting
to after a shark attack happens.
You're telling me that somebody is going to get bit and you're going to save their life
by having a tourniquet out on the beach or an ATV?
I mean, it's good to have that just in case, but that shouldn't be the only solution.
It's unacceptable to me personally, because if and when these shark attacks are
witnessed, it's not a pretty sight.
And for that to be downplayed this way, that we're going to react with tourniquet versus
we have a problem here and we need to work towards a solution.