More Sharks?! Will Paranoid Folks Like Me Ever Swim Again?!
It's no secret that I really don't enjoy swimming in the ocean. It's cold as all get out, and my irrational fear that creatures of the deep are coming near the shore to eat me, pretty much pervade every thought when even dipping my toes in the briny waters. And then all the Jaws-esque movies out there pretty much keep e from ever getting over it.
I also have a bunch of friends who are surfers. One time, my buddy Gene told me he was working on making his own chain mail suit to wear when he surfs. I asked him why he was doing that, and looked at me deadpan and told me that it was a shark defense. Now, despite my own phobias, I kind of gave chuckled at him. And once again, he looked at me with that deadpan stare.
And whaddaya know....the last couple summers have seen quite a dramatic rise of Great White shark sightings off, not just the New England coast, but many specifically right off the coast of Maine. It's been a while since we've had an actual shark attack, since 2010 actually, and then it was a Portbeagle. Which a small-ish shark that mostly feeds on fish. That attack was not fatal.
And now, just last week, researchers at the University of New England have gotten wind of another Great White just off the Maine coast. A 12-footer named "Cool Beans". It was originally tagged off the coast of Massachusetts, but it's radio transmitter went off as it came into the vicinity of our coast's receivers, according to the Portland Press Herald.
Here's drone footage of a Great White from earlier this summer, as it was circling a dead shark:
The shark was detected by a UNE receiver last month, on the southern coast of Stratton Island in Saco Bay. The island is known as a "seal haul", which is heavily populated seal habitat. AKA....The ultimate Great White shark buffet! Those big old people-eaters looooove their plump, juicy seals and sea lions.
Now, maybe you aren't scared of sharks or whatever else may live in our coastal waters. And I am definitely not saying you should be. But if you think you're ever...EVER going to get me in the ocean in anything smaller than an aircraft carrier, guess again buddy. I'll meet you back at the snack shack on the beach!