Good Sharkkeeping Seal Of Approval

Well, the folks in Britain who were terrified by reports of a great white shark off the coast can breath easy. It was a hoax.

Doorman Kevin Keeble sparked the media feeding frenzy when he sent pictures to his local paper of a shark he photographed during a fishing trip to South Africa, jokingly claiming the photo was taken near the British surfing resort of Newquay.

"I didn't expect anyone would be daft enough to take it seriously."

Never underestimate the press, Kevin. Meanwhile, off the coast of Massachusetts, a shark seen munching on a nice, fresh seal has been confirmed to be a great white. Experts could tell because all that was left to wash up on shore were the head and the fins.

Lisa Capone, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, said that a shark specialist for the state had examined photos of the seal's carcass and interviewed witnesses and that the case "has the look of great white shark predation."

She said great whites are lone animals that travel 30 to 50 miles a day and have a slow metabolism, so that they can go several weeks or even up to a couple of months between feedings.

"It's likely far away, not going to eat again, and it was alone," she said.

A mammoth, bloodthirsty great white was featured in the movie "Jaws," which made many people think twice before going into the water. In 2004, a 1,700-pound great white made news in the state when it was trapped in a lagoon on Naushon Island off Falmouth for two weeks.

Tony LaCasse, a spokesman for the New England Aquarium, said great whites tend to stay offshore.

Large sharks are potential threats to people, he said, but "we're not part of their normal prey base. . . . We're not on their menu." The last shark-related death in New England was in 1936.

Nonetheless, experts recommend that swimmers learn to levitate out of the water if they see a great white. While we quite agree that the sight of a shark fin cutting through the water is ominous it is not even remotely as frightening as some other things. For example, savage Swedish beavers. (And if you have no idea what that is all about, see this post.)

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1. Blue Crab Boulevard » Great News For Aging Boomers! — Friday, 10 August , 2007 @ 10:15 pm