Men in gray?

[surfinJ]

My wife and daughters are off in Westport visiting my brother and I just
recieved word from them about the men in the grey suits.  Two
whites by elephant rock and a hammerhead by the lighthouse at Briggs
beach.  Their activity spreads beyond the cape?  Be careful you guys and
gals.

[supthecreek]

I just read about the beach closures in those off Cape towns.... I think they are just jealous of all the media attention and tourist $$$ that the flowing on to the Cape since the Great White explosion here. Heck... it's "Shark Week" ... sightings are mandatory.

With the geometric growth of the seal population around here, more & more predators will be attracted.

Yesterday, I was surfing "shark alley" with 1 proner girl. We were on a little sandbar 300 yards from shore, about 1/2 mile from the public beach. 100 yards inside of us there were 50-75 seals, 50 yards north of us was what looked to be a giant rubber doormat.... about 30 big seals rafted in a clump. Lots of others swimming all around us. They are migrating north from Monomoy as the population overcrowds the more remote beaches.

[PDLSFR]

I agree with Creek that with Shark Week being on tv this week, sightings will increase 10 fold.

A couple weeks ago off 2nd Beach in Newport, RI. a 7-9 ft Hammerhead was videotaped, maybe it's the same one as it's basically the same waters that the shark would patrol.

I have not seen any seals around the Westport MA beaches or Newport RI beaches so not sure why any White's would venture away from the abundance of seals on the lower and mid cape.

[SOCOsup]

I have seen plenty of seals at South Shore in Little Compton, but generally it has been in cold weather, fall/late spring.  Also, a good sized white washed ashore early last September at South Shore.

[addapost]

I am in the water off Little Compton/Westport 3 or 4 times a week all summer and 2 or 3 times a month all winter. I seriously doubt there are big sharks here. There simply is nothing for them to eat. It is not far from the cape population but it does not seem to be on their north/south migration route. None of the tagged Cape sharks have even sniffed over in that direction (http://sharks-ocearch.verite.com/) In the winter there are a few dozen seals off Sakonnet Point and a few in and around the mouth of the Westport River but they are all gone by late April. None at all in the summer. I am very skeptical about last weeks "shark" sighting off Gooseberry Island. The report was the guy saw a small fin 100 yards off the  beach (gooseberry island) and a "large" fin 1000 yards off the beach. Really? A thousand yards? Wow! that's pretty good:

A. eyesight
B. range finding
C. shark fin size (Megladon?)
D. all of the above.

Who knows how the 14 foot GW died and ended up at quicksand point last summer? I went to see it a few hours after they cut it up. It certainly looked healthy and well fed. I didn't see any sign of trauma. I have not heard a final report from the necropsy.
I like Creek's theory that Westport is just jealous. We have shark envy
Anyway, I am going for a paddle out there right now. I'll let you know if I see anything

edit: I just emailed Greg Skomal of Mass Dept of Marine Fisheries and asked him if there are any results of the necropsy from last years dead GW. I'll report back if he responds.

[PDLSFR]

Addapost did you ever hear back from Greg on the necropsy?

[addapost]

No, the son of a gun. He has not responded.