Residents of Cape Cod are demanding city officials do more to protect beachgoers following two shark attacks this year, one of which was fatal.
Hundreds of concerned locals packed into the Wellfleet Elementary School gym on Thursday for a public forum with officials and experts to discuss possible ways to keep people safe from sharks.
One by one residents tossed out a number of suggestions on how to deter sharks, including demanding officials to look into reducing the growing seal population on Cape Cod beaches. Many believe increased numbers of seals are attracting sharks hunting for food.
‘The seal population on the Cape is way of our control. They’re eating all of our fish and now they’re eating all of our children,’ said resident Gail Sluis of Brewster.
Hundreds of Cape Cod residents came out for a forum on Thursday to discuss possible ways to keep beachgoers safe from sharks
One by one residents tossed out a number of suggestions on how to deter sharks
There were two shark attacks in Cape Code this year, one of which was fatal
Residents told officials they need to reduce the seal population, because it’s believed the animals are attracting sharks
‘No sharks or seals are worth a young man’s life — they’re just not,’ she added.
According to a 2017 report by Cape Cod Times, there are 30,000 to 50,000 seals living in the waters of Southern Massachusetts, primarily on and around Cape Code.
City officials acknowledged the seal population has grown tremendously but told locals at the forum that there are federal laws preventing the removal of seals.
‘I can understand the passion for wanting to remove seals and white sharks,’ said David Pierce, director of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, ‘(But) it’s likely never going to happen, despite the fact that there’s been a death.’
Town Administrator Dan Hoort added that it would take an act of Congress.
‘There isn’t any solution but effective deterrence,’ Hoort said, according to the Boston Herald.
Cape Cod beachgoers are concerned about shark attacks following the death of a 26-year-old man earlier this month
Officials said they have added signage on the beach warning residents of sharks in the area
Other residents wanted the city to try and find new technology that could possibly deter sharks or keep beachgoers safer. One local, who also works on the beaches as a lifeguard, asked officials about getting drones to check the water from above.
Wellfleet Director of Community Services Suzanne Grout-Thomas said, however, that they have a lot of mileage to cover and wasn’t sure if drones would be possible, CapeCode.com News reports.
Thomas told residents that in recent years lifeguards have received additional training and extra safety measures were taken, including adding hemostatic bandages that stop bleeding instantly.
Arthur Medici, 26, was killed on September 26 when he was bitten by a great white shark just off Newcomb Hollow Beach
Tourniquets have also been added to beaches and on lifeguards’ ATVs.
‘We can not put anything out there that will guarantee that you’re never going to run into a shark, that no one will ever be attacked by a shark or tasted by a shark,’ she said.
The forum came two weeks after 26-year-old Arthur Medici was killed on September 15 when he was bitten by a great white shark just off Newcomb Hollow Beach. Medici’s death marked the first fatality in Massachusetts since 1936.
In August, a New York man was attacked by a shark in Truro. He survived and is recovering from his injuries.