SHARK HO!

Well, it must be getting close to my pilgrimage to Cape Cod.  A few nights ago, ABC nightly news dutifully reported on a favorite yearly topic of theirs – the annual sighting of great white sharks around Nauset Beach in Orleans, MA.  This year there was even a video of one of the monsters enjoying a slow, leisurely stroll up and down the beach.  So far this year, ABC says 7 sightings have been recorded.

 

Lunch?

Or freedom????

Now, it just so happens that Nauset Beach is exactly where my GPS says my van is going. I’ve never seen a shark off this beach, but I have seen what lures them to stop by this idyllic little spot on their annual migration north.  Seals.  Close to shore, you can watch them pop their little heads out of the water and simply stare at all of us on the beach.  I’ve often wondered what they are thinking when they do that.  Are their round little moon eyes trying to lure us into the water to play with them?   Do they want to join us in beachside frolic?  Or do they just wonder what the hell we are and what we’re doing in their neighborhood?

Now, in the animal kingdom, looks can be very deceiving.  These adorable little fur balls with their “come love me” eyes and cute whiskers and comic antics hide what is in essence a predator in its own right.  One Cape Cod fisherman who should know calls these innocents “wolves that went into the water.”  Why?  Because these little creatures love to feast on – seafood!  In many cases, the same varieties Cape fishermen catch just so we who are at the Cape can enjoy the unique experience of feasting on what is really fresh seafood.  Caught in the morning, on your plate by night.  You can not beat that anywhere!

The seals usually hang around Monomoy Island just off Chatham.  On any given drive by, one could easily see 4,000 to 5,000 seals lounging on the sandbar, much the same as we humans hang around our favorite beach.  Almost non existent in the early 80s, the seal population exploded in the mid 2000s.  The seals in and around the Cape and the islands now number roughly 16,000 smiley faces with whiskers, and their expected growth rate is about 20% a year!

 

Hanging out in Chatham

And…these little critters devour about 4 – 6% of their body weight every day on seafood.  That’s 32 to 48 pounds of fish per seal, every day. Multiply that by 16,000 hungry mouths, and it seriously affects what is left over for us.  Now that makes fishermen mad. 

With numbers like that, the shark community quickly spread the word and decided this was a trip definitely worth the effort.  The fact that seals are to the great white a “superb high calorie meal”  sealed (no pun) the deal.  Permanently entered into their GPS is a yearly visit to The Cape and the islands.  Just like we humans.  

It would be like telling me that a place called Cape Cod is home to the greatest number of outlets for lobster rolls on the planet, all in one convenient little place, where the pickins’ are soooo easy.   I know I’d find it and migrate there every year just to over serve myself on this treat.  Which is essentially what I do, and what they do as well.

Isn't is odd I'm beginning to think.  We go to the Cape for pretty much one of the same reasons the seals and the great white sharks do.  We're all simply looking for a good meal.  

So, it’s off to the Cape I go, with empty stomach and full wallet.  I will enjoy my little feasts, and probably hear more about the shark vs. seal issue as time goes on.  Count on a future battle coming to the Cape regarding the seal problem. Don’t be surprised if the fishermen want to encourage “culling” the herd of seals to address the seafood shortage and great white shark situation.  But the way those things usually work out, don’t count on the sharks leaving this buffet table any time soon!

Mark Twain Quote: “You talk about happy creatures – did you ever notice a porpoise?  Well, there ain’t anything in heaven here superior to that happiness.”

(Mark never wrote about sharks it would appear.)