Slow Response, but with Great Effect

With the weather getting warmer and the summer getting closer and closer, many residents of the Cape have been stressing over how officials should be responding to the rise of Great White Shark presence in Cape Cod waters. After the two shark attacks from last summer, one of which was fatal, there seems to be a sense of urgency amongst residents and tourists. They feel that these experts and officials are taking too long to map out their plan of how to ensure the safety of those who enter the waters of these apex predators. It's understandable that the public feels that this problem has to be resolved as quickly as possible, especially with the rate at which shark sightings are increasing every summer. The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy reported a 67% increase in shark sightings between 2017 and 2018. Even Dr. Greg Skomal expressed his worries that this increase in shark presence may increase the probability of attacks this summer, with beach-goers venturing deeper into the water. However, I don't think we should be worried about how long it will take for these efforts to be implemented, but rather as to how effective they would be on public safety.

According to the team of shark experts who are carrying out the study, the reason that they won't be able to implement any new strategies until after summer is because this study requires a long, measured out process that has to get approval by multiple committees. Their study will mostly consist of plans such as shark nets/barriers along beaches, shark-detecting sonar buoys, and smart drum-lining. These are strategies that they hope will prevent these sharks from coming close to shore and attacking swimmers in the first place. 

Along with posting warning signs, officials on the Cape have focused more toward taking extra precautions in the event that an attack occurs. They hope to make the waters safer for swimmers by analyzing where Great White Sharks attack most often. Their methods consist of the following.

-Improving communications at beaches by installing emergency call boxes
-Expanded lifeguard presence across the beaches
-Increasing the number of emergency medical technicians at the beaches
-Continuing public education and outreach
-Providing first-aid training to the public and staff
-Reducing emergency response times for paramedics

Some people may feel that these strategies will be ineffective because rather than prevent shark attacks from happening, they only help us prepare for how to respond in the event of an attack. Tourists who visit the Cape this summer will begin to wonder, if these experts can't find a way to keep us safe from shark attacks, are they really doing everything they can?

One thing that the public needs to understand is that we can't always be 100% effective with everything they do. To make something fully effective, it requires time, patience, and a long, well thought out process. One of the main reasons why these strategies are going to take a longer time for shark researchers and experts to implement is because of costs. Researchers from Woods Hole have considered the usage of aerial drones and spotter planes to track where sharks are moving along the coast, something that will cost at least several hundred thousand dollars to use. Even the Town Manager of Wellfleet made a statement saying, "I can completely understand those who think these efforts are moving too slowly, But when it's public safety and a proposal to spend millions of dollars, the town needs to make sure it's done right." And that's the case for everyone that wants to make a proposition or change to a community. It has to be reviewed, analyzed, and approved by politicians, because they have the final decision in whether or not it gets passed. In the meantime, all we can do is take precautions for what to do in the rare event that we come into contact with these predatorily creatures. Yes, it may not be 100% effective in preventing another attack, I can guarantee it will prevent another fatality from an attack. And that should be our number one priority when it comes to dealing with these situations.

Aloha Sharks

Shark attacks are one of the most rare occurrences in the world. The number of attacks per year are so low that it's very difficult for scientists to do a statistical analysis on why the number of fatal attacks tends to vary year by year. Statistically, risk of dying from a shark attack is amongst the lowest. 

Annual Risk Of Death During One's Lifetime

DISEASE AND ACCIDENTAL CAUSES OF DEATHS	ANNUAL DEATHS	DEATH RISK DURING ONE'S LIFETIME
Heart disease	652,486	1 in 5
Cancer	553,888	1 in 7
Stroke	150,074	1 in 24
Hospital Infections	99,000	1 in 38
Flu	59,664	1 in 63
Car accidents	44,757	1 in 84
Suicide	31,484	1 in 119
Accidental poisoning	19,456	1 in 193
MRSA (resistant bacteria)	19,000	1 in 197
Falls	17,229	1 in 218
Drowning	3,306	1 in 1,134
Bike accident	762	1 in 4,919
Air/space accident	742	1 in 5,051
Excessive cold	620	1 in 6,045
Sun/heat exposure	273	1 in 13,729
Lightning	47	1 in 79,746
Train crash	24	1 in 156,169
Fireworks	11	1 in 340,733
Shark attack	1	1 in 3,748,067

Sources: All accidental death information from National Safety Council. Disease death information from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Shark fatality data provided by the International Shark Attack File.

Lifetime risk is calculated by dividing 2003 population (290,850,005) by the number of deaths, divided by 77.6, the life expectancy of a person born in 2003.

Scientists were surprised when they found that Hawaii experienced two fatal shark attacks in the year 2013. These were the first fatal attacks in almost a decade.  Were these fatal attacks coincidence?  Could the fatal attacks have been triggered by environmental influence or is behavior natural to the sharks? What is known is that  Maui sees over 60% of shark attacks in the Hawaiian islands. 
Maui has an insular shelf that slopes off into deep water.  On Maui, there is more of that kind of shelf habitat than on any other of the main Hawaiian islands.  The belief is that the Tiger Sharks come to this area to feed or reproduce. 

In 2013 over 1,400 tons of molasses spilled into the waters around Maui, killing hundreds of thousands of fish and marine life in the process.  A diver who surveyed the damage was quoted saying, "Everything that was underwater suffocated, everything climbed out of its hole and the whole bottom was covered with fish, crabs, lobsters, worms, sea fans--anything that was down there was dead."

The Hawaii Health Department had concerns that this would attract more predatorial fish around the area, such as sharks, eels, and barracuda. Their predictions were accurate. The increase in shark presence and activity increased.

Certain experts also believe that natural causes may play a factor in the rise in shark presence as well. They noticed that the rise in shark bites occurred around October, which also happens to be the month when pregnant female sharks travel from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to the Main Hawaiian Islands to give birth to their young. This theory was brought up following a previous 7-year  tagging and tracking study of the migration of sharks in the area. 

It's hard to say exactly which theory is true, and we may never be able to determine which one is true. The biggest problem with shark attacks is that the numbers are so low it's hard to determine what's causing these fluctuations. It may be due to natural fluctuations or by human causes. But in the case that it is human causes, we just have to make sure we take the precautions that we need in order to prevent this from happening in the future. We have to start taking responsibility for our own faults and take the necessary actions to reverse them.