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A flag warning visitors of Cape Cod sharks blows in the wind at an entry point at Nauset Beach in Orleans, Massachusetts on August 31, 2018.
(John Tlumacki / Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Residents of a Cape Cod town have urged local officials to ensure the safety of their beaches after a deadly shark attack killed a Massachusetts man earlier this month.
Hundreds of locals participated in a community forum at a Wellfleet elementary school Thursday to discuss rising shark sightings along the coast and learn from experts and officials what can reasonably be done to prevent another attack.
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Suzanne Grout-Thomas, Director of Community Services, Wellfleet, began by outlining the steps that leaders have taken to increase awareness in previous years, including strengthening training and updating first aid procedures. Thomas, however, said that there was no way to ensure water without sharks.
Visitors to Saturday's Newcomb Hollow Beach stand near a sign urging residents to "do silly things" by entering the water.
(AP / Susan Haigh)
"We can not put anything in there that guarantees that you will never meet a shark, that no one will be attacked by a shark or tasted by a shark," she said, according to CapeCod.com.
Residents then pushed officials to reduce the seal population to deter sharks from finding them as a food source, either through a "birth control system" or by reducing seal protection, reports the Boston Globe.
Others have cited less than ideal cell phone service on beaches, which could slow down efforts to reach emergency surfers.
Residents, such as Brewster's Gail Sluis, also spoke out in favor of aggressive measures.
"They eat our fish, now they eat our kids," Sluis said, according to the Globe. "No shark or seal is worth the life of a young man – that's not the case."
Thursday's meeting follows the death of 26-year-old Arthur Medici of Revere, who succumbed to his injuries after being attacked by a shark off Newcomb Hollow Beach on 15 September. a shark in 80 years.
In a statement released shortly after, Cape Cod National Seashore confirmed that the beaches of Wellfleet – including Newcomb Hollow Beach, where Medici was attacked – were "closed to swimming".
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Warning signs had also been placed on the beaches of Cape Cod during the previous weeks, when a 61-year-old man was attacked on a beach in Truro, Cape Cod. .
Thomas also said in a statement to Fox News that the city "should depend on the good sense of people and their willingness to survive" to avoid similar attacks.
The authorities placed signs indicating that the beaches were closed after the death of Medici.
(Merrily Cassidy / The Cape Cod Times via AP)
Thursday's forum ended with officials pledging to fund safety improvements and technologies that can help detect sharks, and even said they might consider monitoring the waters, according to a local suggestion. .
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Officials were also open to the possibility of another forum, the Globe reported.
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