Kathianne
08-02-2012, 04:33 AM
Unintended, but not unpredictable consequences:
http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1061150143
Experts: Sharks feasting on super-sized seal meal Conservation policy blamed for hike in great white sightings <!--//Byline box//--> By John Zaremba, Christine McConville and O’Ryan Johnson
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
The booming, federally protected seal population basking in Bay State waters will only bring more hungry, dead-eyed great white sharks closer to shore — where they can strike in as little as 6 feet of water, experts warn.
State wildlife officials said yesterday they’re tracking nine great whites — the most they’ve ever had tagged — but it’s not clear whether that lethal group includes the stealthy predator that attacked a bodysurfer off Ballston Beach in Truro on Monday afternoon, splattering blood on the beach...
...
Swarming the Cape coast in pockets from Eastham to Chatham, seals — a protected species for the past four decades — are being blamed for the sudden spike in shark sightings.
“Nature is out of balance,” said Michael Snell, a former Truro beach commissioner. “Until we start harvesting seals, we are going to keep having these kind of problems.”
Wildlife experts warn that seal preservation and swimmer safety are on a collision course.
“It’s a smoke signal to start thinking about our conservation policies, and whether they’re really moving us toward sustainability or something else,” said Brian Rothschild, a marine science professor at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth...
http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1061150143
Experts: Sharks feasting on super-sized seal meal Conservation policy blamed for hike in great white sightings <!--//Byline box//--> By John Zaremba, Christine McConville and O’Ryan Johnson
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
The booming, federally protected seal population basking in Bay State waters will only bring more hungry, dead-eyed great white sharks closer to shore — where they can strike in as little as 6 feet of water, experts warn.
State wildlife officials said yesterday they’re tracking nine great whites — the most they’ve ever had tagged — but it’s not clear whether that lethal group includes the stealthy predator that attacked a bodysurfer off Ballston Beach in Truro on Monday afternoon, splattering blood on the beach...
...
Swarming the Cape coast in pockets from Eastham to Chatham, seals — a protected species for the past four decades — are being blamed for the sudden spike in shark sightings.
“Nature is out of balance,” said Michael Snell, a former Truro beach commissioner. “Until we start harvesting seals, we are going to keep having these kind of problems.”
Wildlife experts warn that seal preservation and swimmer safety are on a collision course.
“It’s a smoke signal to start thinking about our conservation policies, and whether they’re really moving us toward sustainability or something else,” said Brian Rothschild, a marine science professor at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth...