English: Great white shark at Isla Guadalupe, Mexico, August 2006. Shot with Nikon D70s in Ikelite housing, in natural light. Animal estimated at 11-12 feet (3.3 to 3.6 m) in length, age unknown. Français : Photographie d'un Grand requin blanc (Carcharodon carcharias) de 3,5 mètres environ, prise à l'île Gadalupe en août 2006. Matériel : Nikon D70s dans un caisson étanche Ikelite. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Just in time for summer, here's some news that may give vacationers pause before jumping into the water at Cape Cod beaches: Great white sharks are also paying a visit.
The massive sharks have returned to the area over the years, and last summer shark sightings led to several beach closings.
According to WBZ-TV, the State Division of Marine Fisheries was alerted to their presence when electronic receivers detected audio signals on two of seven sharks the state tagged in the same area last year in open ocean about half a mile from the Chatham shoreline.
Like many tourists, the sharks are coming for the seafood. The sharks were detected near Monomoy Island, where a tempting seal population has attracted the great whites in recent years. A shark researcher for the state of Massachusetts noted that he had seen seals with sharks bite markings on them as recently as Wednesday.
The beaches will remain open. But if swimmers want to keep from getting their own shark bite markings, here's a common-sense suggestion from shark researcher John Chisholm. "Don't swim with the seals. That's really all we can say. It's their ocean."
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upshot/two-great-whites-return-massachusetts-161927795.html
