First fatal shark attack in Maine history (Mexico: living in, club)

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Back in the 1950s, there was Tadcaster beer and ale.

[roadrat]

We need another captain Quint.
https://youtu.be/JsMqZ9uX4Sc

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by roadrat

I blame this squarely on the Narragansett beer company, they should not have released those 1970's retro cans.

Narragansett still exists? What about Schlitz and Heffenreffer?


What's that other one "...is the one beer to have when you're having more than one." Oh, I remember now- Schaefer.

[YorktownGal]

Julie Dimperio Holowach, a 63-year-old fashion executive from Manhattan, was swimming in waters off Maine’s Bailey Island on Monday when she was attacked and killed by a great white shark. The incident is the state’s first fatal encounter with sharks, following an attack 10 years previously that yielded no injuries.

After overfishing nearly wiped out the great white population in the 1980s, their populations are starting to bounce back to natural populations in New England waters. Robert Hueter, senior scientist and director at Mote Marine Laboratory’s Center for Shark Research, attributes that to bans on the fishing of marine mammals that have been in place since 1972 and regulations restricting harmful fish gear that were enacted in the early 1990s.

Sharks will follow their meal, Hueter said. Wherever seals, dolphins, porpoise and other prey go, you can expect sharks, too.

“This is a natural predator-prey relationship going back eons,” Hueter said. “It’s not surprising that with a restored seal population we see the predator of the seal there.”

After the attack, officials sent a fragment of tooth to a shark biologist at Massachusetts’ division of marine fisheries who identified the creature as a great white.

Great white sharks off the coast of Maine are not new, Hueter said.

In the summer season, the sharks travel as far north as Canada to seek their preferred 60-65F water temperature. Cape Cod waters are a big magnet for shark populations. But increasing water temperatures spreading north might be pushing sharks that way too. However, it’s more likely that increasing food availability – in the shape of more seals – attracts sharks more than rising water temperatures, Hueter said.

Great whites are also ambush attackers, meaning they swim below their predators and attack by rushing to the surface, and it’s likely that the shark confused Holowach, who was wearing a dark wetsuit, for a seal or other prey.

Shark attacks are very rare, but there are some simple steps to keep safe in New England waters, starting with avoiding swimming near large schools of fish, seal pods and other common great white prey. Also, swimmers should avoid wearing dark clothing and shouldn’t swim alone.

Sharks are also far more under threat from humans than vice versa. Every year, millions of sharks are killed as food or for sport. Some 17% of all shark species are endangered or vulnerable.

“People should always remember that the ocean is a wild place. It’s like going for a walk in the deep woods and you have to know how to prevent encounters with bears,” Hueter said.

https://www.theguardian.com/environm...ection-efforts

[mainebrokerman]

We have an over abundance of seals this is what’s attracting the sharks

If we don’t control the seal populations the lobsterman would like to use them for Bait
I suggest we blast out orca killer whale calls from buoys this will deter the white sharks and also right whales. Lobsterman and all the rope have been blamed for killing right whales

[OutdoorLover]

I live in a seaside town at the MA/NH border. A few times in recent years, sportfisherman have reported Great White sightings near the turbulent mouth of the river, which is just the kind of place sharks like, and yes, seals hang out on the rocks there. Local commercial boat captains actually poo-pooed the reports, saying essentially "I've been going out in these waters for 30 years and I haven't seen one, so I don't believe it". I have *zero* doubts that the sharks are here. The one sport fisherman was anchored in a calm cove adjacent to the mouth, cleaning a large striper over the side of the boat and he said his sighting was like a scene out of Jaws - it was right in front of him... plus, it's long been known by professional biologists that these big boys are found in the Atlantic from the Florida Keys all the way up to Labrador, so Newburyport is well within their normal range.

No doubt, they are scary creatures, but in the scheme of things, sharks are an exceedingly low risk for people. More people get killed by lightning.

[roadrat]

Originally Posted by Zymer

Narragansett still exists? What about Schlitz and Heffenreffer?


What's that other one "...is the one beer to have when you're having more than one." Oh, I remember now- Schaefer.

Yes it does, and they just released a retro can that looks just like the one from the 70's made famous from the scene from Jaws, check the video I posted above.

https://shop.gansett.com/collections/1975

Schlitz sounds too close to another word for my taste, And didn't Haffenriffer have those weird puzzles under the cap?

[Luvboats]

Feel terrible for the daughter and family but I'm wondering how smart it is to wear a dark wetsuit where there are seal populations...…….

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by Luvboats

Feel terrible for the daughter and family but I'm wondering how smart it is to wear a dark wetsuit where there are seal populations...…….

I know I wouldn't do it. But this is the first shark attack in Maine on record, so up until now the likelihood of being attacked by a shark in Maine waters has been extremely slim.

[Mark S.]

I have talked to people at local beaches who think this area of the Atlantic is too cold to attract large, dangerous sharks. It isn't. One of the largest great white sharks ever caught in North America was caught off the coast of Prince Edward Island, which is considerably farther north than Maine. It measured 20 ft.

That isn't something you want to share the water with.