Chatham Beaches Closed After Shark Attacks Seal

By Carlo Rodriguez, Christian Post Contributor Monday, August 14, 2017

Several beachgoers were definitely inconvenienced as two beaches in Chatham were closed after a shark attack.

Sharks are one of the most terrifying things about the ocean, and films like "Deep Blue Sea" and "Jaws" tend to add more fuel to the already burning flame. Last Thursday, a shark was spotted near the coasts of Chatham, Massachusetts, after it attacked a seal. Due to this incident, two beaches in the area, namely those betwen Lighthouse and Andrew Hardings Lane, had to be closed down and cleared of swimmers, Boston Globe reports.

According to Dan Tobin, the director of parks and recreation in Chatham, the beaches would remain closed for a duration of two hours or maybe even longer as they, along with the officials of the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, track down the shark and tag it for monitoring.

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It has been a standard protocol that whenever a shark is spotted, beaches would have to close down for an hour. But as per Tobin, since the shark did not jus happen to pass by and instead attacked another creature, the closure of the beaches would have to be extended seeing as it was hunting for food.

Lifeguards had to use jetskis in order to get the people out of the water much quicker because of the shark sighting.

Dr. Greg Skomal, senior fisheries biologist, explains to ABC News that the increasing great white shark activity in the Massachusetts coastline is largely influenced by the rising population of gray seals. This is similar to the great white shark problem experienced in the Hawaiian island of Maui where the increasing population of green sea turtles had attracted a growing number of sharks. 

Because of this, people are advised to stay away from seals as much as possible to avoid a predator encounter with great white sharks. Furthermore, it is advised that swimmers stay away from the waters around dusk or dawn.