Shark Attack (Fatal) in Southern Maine

Paddlers' Place
#10

Unfortunately you cannot sell that idea to those who have made up their minds that the virus is everywhere about to pounce out of thin air.

We had to have help when we blew out a tire on the Golden Road up north and my neighbors were horrified that no one had a mask when I recounted this little mishap. They were coming over to show us something they needed fixed ( at a distance) but the day they were to come they said they were playing by the rules and not coming until 15 days after our “exposure” ( there have been no cases where we were).

Their grown but jobless son who lives with them probably told them we could carry the virus( I believe he is autistic). And he has not allowed them to venture out. In my mind it is brainwashing and perhaps elder abuse. But they have allowed their kids to rule their lives forever.

I agree people in general have to socialize. We cannot even get them to paddle in their own kayaks near us .They were horrified that we asked.

Frankly we have just given up on them. Nice people but their son is creepy. We work at a food bank so we have some contact with folks. There is a need for volunteers in our area. We also sometimes have neighborhood “distance circles” but they do not come.

Probably we should put the train back on the rails!

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#11

Marine Resources news conference now:
Confirmed Great White Shark attack… Victim had a tooth embedded in her. She was swimming 50 feet off shore.

Visitor from New York.

Dept of Marine Resources says to avoid near schooling fish and seals. Makes sense for kayakers to avoid too.

The other swimmer was her daughter. How heartbreaking and awful for her to deal with. Both were wearing wetsuits . Conjecture is they both may have looked like seals

#12

Hope to sometime come to paddle parts of coastal Maine. Thanks to the virus, it will not be this year. Sharks are part of the wildlife to see, just not up close as this unfortunate victim. Prayers and condolences to her family.

#13

So sad. Had not thought about the wet suit thing…

#14

Just leaving this here. Parts of it are vivid

#15

new info and warnings for those paddling in the area

#16

possibly wetsuits were the cause. Back 1979-1980, another former WSI (water safety instructor, we taught kids to swim and trained and certified lifeguards) and I headed west, visions of I dunno, communes and sugar mommas in our heads. Anyways, we ended up in San Francisco, 10 years too late, but used to enjoy a weekly trip to Stinson beach to go body surfing. Huge waves, long rides, no one else ever in the water. One day, we saw a beer keg floating offshore maybe 3-400 yards and we swam out to it. It said …(roughly, been a long time) Univ. of Cal. Berkeley, Marine Biology dept. and we thought perhaps they were tracking tides. The buoy was fairly still, slow breast stroke allowing us to remain with it, we figured tidal flow, then it started picking up speed, I switched to head high freestyle. A few seconds later, it speeds to maybe 7-10 mph, I dunno, it’s getting towed, I can see that now and call out to my buddy “I’m gonna’ catch the next wave.” and we surf into shore. I figured “tuna”, self preservation psychology at work, and we surf Stinson a few more times before moving south. 10 years later, back east, married, watching Jacques Cousteau talking Great Whites, something I loved, having swam and dived the East Coast from NE Harbor to Miami, anyways, Jacques mentions “Stinson Beach, number one Great White shark attack spot in the world, surpassing the Great Barrier Reef.” I turned white as a ghost, gripping my chair, Janice noticed, then kind of laughed at the reaction of “travelin’ Matt.” I verified this use of buoys to track sharks about 6 years back, ironically at a Primus concert back in San Fran, next to a guy whose wife was a Marine Bio. major at Berkeley back in the day. No electonics back then, so buoy tracking it was. What I want to get at, swimming smoothly, not dressing like a seal, not wearing jewelry (Florida retirees, are you listening?) will help us survive in an environment we were not really meant to be in. Awhile after I left Cali., an Orca killed a GW in the area, and the smell (liver I believe) drove the whites out of the area (Stinson/Farallons/“circle of death” channel where “air Jaws” was first noticed iirc.) I spent time in Miami the following year, surfed clear water, noted sharks at times, vacated water, but never an issue, but also watched tourists heading into the schools of bunker (menhaden) coming down the coast, while wearing jewelry. Sharks don’t have hands, they reach out and touch someone with their mouth.

#17

Wearing a wetsuit won’t get you killed, otherwise there would be tens of thousands of shark attacks in California every year. It’s more likely they were swimming near seals (or sealions?) or other food. Numerous documented attacks on surfers or swimmers swimming near shark food sources.

Not sure Stinson holds the record for west coast attacks anymore. They are certainly out there, and usually they ignore surfers. I’ve seen a few sharks in the area, and had a rather large one swim underneath me at Scotts Creek. GWS attacks are rare in Southern California, but a triathalon swimmer practicing at my favorite surf break was killed 12 years ago. There had been numerous attacks on sea lions in the area for several days before. About 5 years ago my son and I were waveski surfing in Lajolla and I took some video of him and his girlfriend sitting on skis about 200 yards from the sealion colony at Lajolla Cove. When I edited the pictures I noticed a large shark tail fin about 25 feet from his girlfriend. I sent the photos to a guy at the Monterrey aquarium and he confirmed that it was very likely a GWS.

#18

I appreciate the concept of not paddling near seals or schools of fish… though you can turn a corner around a small point at some tide states and be right in a small school of fish that a seal has driven within a few feet of the land over the ledges in Maine.

I don’t see wet suits causing attacks, but I don’t know whether GWS chasing seals will go for a black object or one with white arms and legs moving in the water first. One is more like what they came for, the other is more visible. It is clear that sea lions are why the GWS gets there in the first place. We may see a focus on relocating some of those populations in major tourist areas. Not sure I would be fond of that.

#19

no sea lions in Maine… They are predominately a Pacific animal. We have grey and harbor seals. Relocating seals is akin to herding cats! Not going to happen.

#20

Oops on the species, was copying from above. Though I have never seen other than two maybe three types of seals.

Agree that actually moving them is not a plan. I fear more dire approaches if it gets really bad, at least someone will propose it.

#21

Not likely, at least I would hope. All seals and sea lions are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and some are also listed under the Endangered Species Act.

#22

There seem to be a plethora of half chowed down seal bodies coming on shore here. There has to be more than one great White. The Porbeagle population is up too. They aren’t quite as nasty though you would not want to interact with one.
The GW seems to have friends or is still lurking https://www.pressherald.com/2020/07/31/state-eases-some-swimming-restrictions-following-fatal-shark-attack/

#23

The group that I kayak with had a paddle planned for the Harpswell area today, near the center of the shark sightings. We decided to move the paddle about 20 miles east to Pemaquid. I think the probability of a kayak-shark encounter is pretty low, but this will still make people feel a little safer - unless Mr./Ms. shark heads east too.

#24

I bothered to look this up a few or so years ago. Great Whites are regularly around pretty much all the way up the coast. The fact that the Gulf of Maine is the fastest warming section of water on the east coast, at least last I checked, could be changing the location of all parts of the fish food chain.

Doubt the lobstering folks are shedding any tears…

#25

It was sad news. She was a friend of one of our hiking and kayaking friends. I grew up on Bailey Island back in the 60s and early 70s. My mother lived there for another 40 years and swam a lot near Cedar Beach and other spots and kayaked all over the area. We never dreamed of a shark attack. I’m not sure there were near as many seals back then. We paddle in the area quite a bit now and noticed a lot more fish jumping this summer. A few seals popped up here and there. We saw even more activity near Boothbay when we kayaked out of Knickercane Launch recently. You could see the seals where chasing the fish. We see lots of people out in these small “bathtub” style kayaks. I’m not sure I’d want to be on the ocean with one of those right now (actually never). We just spent 5 days up at Stonington and saw seals and a few porpoises as well. Amazing how warm the water is even up there. We spent 2 nights at Old Quarry Campground before it closed. We then spend 3 nights at Greenlaw’s Campground and launched downtown. There’s plenty of parking up by the school. We are so lucky to be able to enjoy a beautiful coastline up here in Maine during this stressful time. We saw lots of mask wearing in Stonington. We always make sure to have ours with us and are ready to use them even when kayaking. You never know when you might need to help someone or need help yourself. Better safe than sorry.

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#26

We went out of Mackerel Cove on Wednesday to circumnavigate Bailey Island. We had only gone a short ways around the point on the west side when my friend and I spotted a fin coming our way. She yelled shark as it got closer and when I looked down, it was passing between our 2 kayaks. It was probably around 12’ long. It was hard to see it as the sun was shining on the water and reflecting off it’s back just a bit under the surface. We were about 50’ feet from the shoreline. It was close enough we could have hit it with our paddles. Actually, my friend thought she felt a bump. Pretty scary. It took us a while to calm down and make a decision on whether or not to continue our paddle. We did call the local kayak outfitter on Orr’s Island to let them know and my husband made a call on Channel 16 to let others know. Obviously sharks are still in the waters in Maine. We decided we would not be practicing any self rescue on this outing.

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#27

Yeow. That is very scary! Glad it did not escalate.

#28

I saw a shark expert on tv who advised against wearing a black wet suit. More likely to be mistaken for a seal. The surfers I see out here on Long Island (New York) all wear black suits.

#29

Some time ago my sister was checking into lighter weight suits intended to protect against stings by red jellyfish, a common issue in places like Australia apparently and a massive problem if you are highly allergic. She is. A significant number of those suits she say were not solid black.

That said, before deciding to get other than black does anyone know what colors a shark sees? If they don’t see red for example, a red patterned wet suit is not going to help.