*********UPDATE: Second Cape Cod Seal Attack: Eyewitness Says It WAS A Great White Shark.*************
The Beast just came across this story published today on the WHDH News Site:
Beach-goers shiver after possible shark attack
ORLEANS, Mass. — Evidence of a bloody attack has washed ashore on Nauset Beach in Orleans. The victim was a seal, not a person. But people are still concerned that a shark came so close.
Joe Deetz’s family said they saw a shark devour a seal right before their eyes — in the shallow water only 50 ft. from shore
Now the family is scared to… yes… go back into the water.
“I could have been the seal,” said Dayton Deetz.
Police have not yet confirmed it was in fact a shark attack.
This, also, from the Cape Cod Times:
Shark sighted off Nauset Beach
By
Staff Writer
August 06, 2007CHATHAM – Beachgoers on the north side of Nauset Beach saw an unusual sight Saturday night. Around 6 p.m., several people reported seeing a shark eating a seal, Chatham police Lt. John Cauble said.
The seal briefly washed up on the shore, but then drifted back into the water, Cauble said.
Most swimmers had already left the water by that hour, and no one was injured.
Beach patrols and harbor masters from Chatham and Orleans were notified, and are on the lookout for anything suspicious, although normal swimming rules are in effect, Cauble said.
This is the first shark sighting at Nauset this summer, he said. It is not clear what species of shark it was that people saw
As reported on this blog last year, a Great White Shark attacked a seal not fifty feet from shore at neighboring Lighthouse Beach.
We seem to be seeing a pattern developing here. This is The Beast story from last year’s attack at Lighthouse beach, literally the next beach down from Nauset:
Cape Cod Massachusetts: Too many seals and Great Whites, now!
On July 18, a Chatham resident and several beachgoers got a big suprise.
From “Cape Cod Online”, July 18, 2006:
On Lighthouse Beach, witnesses said they saw a 15-foot great white spring from the water and devour a seal swimming about 50 feet off shore. Officials could not confirm that a shark had entered shallow waters.
But for a handful of people who saw the attack, about 1½ miles from the lighthouse, there was no doubt.
”Somebody screamed, ‘Shark!”’ said E.J. Corb, 15, of Chatham, who works at Chatham Beach Company surf shop. ”I saw the fin and the back tail. And it just took down the seal.
”Three minutes later, the seal carcass just popped up again.”
”We all know they are in the water there,” Corb added. ”But we don’t expect it to come that close.”
Coast Guard officials said they heard the great white reports, but they were unable to confirm them.
”We’ve had sightings before,” said Petty Officer Brent Beebe, who is stationed at the Coast Guard Chatham station. ”Is it common? Well, they’re out there. But it’s not an everyday thing.”
Lee Tallman, the assistant harbormaster in Chatham, said town boats were looking for the animal. But by early evening, there were no confirmed sightings.
What brought a shark the size of a Ford Windstar van a mere two school bus-lengths away from shore on a public beach?
A seal. And guess what? There’s TONS of seals now.
There are even more seals this year than last – and guess what? Another attack in the same area at about the same time of year.
Got to make you wonder.
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34 Comments
I was surfing some amazing waves friday night one day before the attack at the point of north beach in chatham around dusk. I travel back and forth on a small inflatable motorized zodiac. On the way home my girlfriend and i noticed a shape on the ocean side on the island that didnt look quite like a seal it had a very pointed head and appeared much bigger than a large bull seal. actualy we were sure it wasnt a seal. im really not surprized after all almost every summer i can remember there has been some sort of shark incident in that area
dude….
No, the Beast is not surprised either – this window of three weeks or so (mid July to early August) seems to be feeding season for Whites off those beaches. It could even be the same shark migrating back to the area. On the other hand, only seals are on the menu so far. Atlantic Whites just aren’t as prone to bite humans as their brothers in the Pacific and Indian Oceans are.
The Beast lives on the New Hampshire seacoast. He is sure they are here too, but they don’t come in close to shore.
Thanks for the comment Jack and good luck out there!
there is no window – they are in chatham from may to december(fisherman spotted on in dec last year) – all of the time
I was witnes to the shark sighting saturday august 4th. I have not one doubt in my mind that what I saw was a great white shark. It breached out of the water, I could see it clearly, other species of sharks just don’t do that. It seems to me that the beach officials are taking this way too lightly considering the large number of witnesses who saw the attack. In fact, they haven’t even confirmed this as a shark attack yet despite the evidence that washed up on shore hours later (the mangled seal)It concerns me that a great white was hunting in the same exact depth of water, and area that beachgoers are swimming in.
Tori
Amazing story! Please email the Beast with contact information (if you will) he’d love to interview you.
Just Click the BeetleWeasel.
Can someone please clarify where exactly this seal was devoured? I have seen some press/people say it was North Beach in Chatham, but most describe the location as the northern part of Nauset Beach (i.e. up more towards the point/inlet – really Orleans)…
Just returned from a week in Chatham. On Friday morning we were at Lighthouse Beach very early…tons of seals in the water…actually the water was so warm and my two children 14 and 10 swam looking for starfish and were about 25 to 50 feet away from a the group of seals. We didn’t think too much of the shark at that point..the seals were too amazing being so close in proximity. Shark or no shark we will return to the waters off the beautiful Chatham shores.
last night (8/12) just before dusk, we found a sea lion with i would guess a 2 foot wide shark bite. it was a fresh kill. the spine was bitten in two. we did not see a great white, but believe we saw his handiwork.
this happened about 700 yards south of the lighthouse in chatham, ma. i called 911 to warn swimmers and then called the harbormaster about where we had seen the carcass. they sent a team out to retrieve it. i am unsure what happened after.
On Memorial Day weekend, 2007, we found a headless seal wash ashore on the Falmouth Heights beach. We called animal patrol, and the Woods Hole scientists came down to take a look. They were pretty sure it was a shark attack. I am surprised that this story was not made public. There are sharks in the waters of Cape Cod!
the photo looks discracful
it was only one day i was going to lerwick and i saw a fin come out of the water. i thought it was a whale but it was infact a baskin shark. it scraped along the side of the boat and the boat went side to side. it was very scary. then i saw another shark and this time it was not a baskin shark. it was a ginormas great white shark and it jamp all the way out of the water to get a seal. and it got the seal and it took the seal back into the water and all you could see was blood. it was the scariest moment of my life and it was also the best time of my life because i had never seen a shark before.
We went fishing off Monomoy in early September. The captain of the fishing charter told us that earler that day he had sean a white shark breach out of the water and devour a seal. This was right off Monomoy.
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need more pics
Tom I’m gonna need a ride home
Good site. Thanks.
run!!!!!!!!!!!! killer shark know one is safe
I lived 1 mile from the light house in Chatham as a child . What has happend is after nauset Beach split in two during a storm it allowed the colder water to move in. I would see maybe 2 seals a summer back in the late 70’s. After the break the Bay became the ocean and lighthouse beach is now the Atlantic with fast easy access for the seals and sharks. Sharks have a memory and they will return in greater numbers over the years. As a child the only shark I spotted was a brown sand shark about a half mile from the light house beach in three feet of water, it was harmless and I pushed around with my foot. Be careful in these waters now , we are in their territory they are not in ours. Best advise just cool off and get wet in two feet of water on a clear day. It will hapen again and agian, the shark will evenually confuse a human for a seal . In twenty years plus the hole coast line from around Chatham fish pier toward Monomoy island has changed . Think of it this way the seals are chum for the whites, it will attract them in numbers , they comunicate with each other somehow and will come back in schools . They hit fast and hard , once they sence the blood they will finish the victim in a less then 40 seconds. They should fence in the light house beach for the tourist before it is too late, some hopeless child will be killed , then they will react.
Two weeks (July)ago a seal washed up on shore of Lecounts Hollow. Photos taken. Bite marks noted. Life guards say it’s still at white Crest and its begining to smell. Water merky with Mung.
greats have been there for over 20 years,however not that close to the chatham light. should i tell you about the makos,hammerheads,i caught within 1/2 mile from shore.don’t be fooled the sharks are closer than you think.
People keep calling this a shark attack. What do people think sharks eat? Of course the sharks eat seals, this is their main diet. This is nothing new. There are always sharks in the ocean and now people act like they are scared to go in the water. Just because you don’t always see them doesn’t mean they are not there. The ocean is their home not ours. THIS IS OLD NEWS JUST SOMETHING THE MEDIA CAN MAKE A STORY OUT of!!!!!
1984 I was diving off Horseneck Beach Westport out by two mile rock when in forty feet of water, I encountered on the edge of visibility, something a diver never wants to see. The star from a major movie that has no name. The me-er sight has kept me quiet because I never thought anyone would believe me, it was there and 15′ in length, probability because of the times I surfaced and got out of the water.
The sharks will be back in droves. They have found a banquet off of the shores of Chatham and will return once again to feed. Can you blame them? The seals are easy pickings for them. As a fisherman I am very much concerned with the proximity of the Great Whites but I also feel the balance of nature needs to be restored with the abundance of seals that we now have.
Bout time sharks start eating us
the shark sightings are no surprise to me as a fisherman we have seen mangled seals every year, bitten not hit with a propeller. My uncle was hired to spot them by plane and counted six in shallow waters on July 23 2010 I would not doubt it if their are more of them in deeper water as well.
went to nantucket a few yrs ago and a local told me most of the seals from the harbor entrance had dissappeared – i told him sharks were the culprit and he said ” i was crazy” . well then all of the sudden they started being noticed in chatham. i wonder if he still thinks im crazy –
im a firm believer that they are going to continue to increase in numbers and push north.
and yes beast – i grew up on the nh seashore – i agree – they are there. especially out stalking the seals on the isles of shoals
growing up on the north shore and nh seacoast we never used to see seals. now they are all over the merrimack river and plum island – IT IS A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE THE GW SHARKS FOLLOW THEM UP HERE – IF THEY HAVENT ALREADY
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Last summer, Arthur Medici went surfing off the coast of Cape Cod. He never made it back alive. As the region’s shores increasingly become a hotbed for great white sharks, is it finally time to be afraid to go in the water, for real?
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