EEK! Sharks!

Seriously, that's the one thing that scares me on this earth: open water swimming in an ocean.  I'm generally a pretty unflappable guy but even in lakes and ponds, if I see something moving under me it takes my breath away and I've had a minor panic attack a few times--and this is in a LAKE!!! 

I don't know how those Cali and Florida swimmers do it, ocean swimming when you can see big, grey outlines just a few meters below you. 

yeah monamoy island is a couple miles off the coast so you need a boat to get out there and the seals are there every year and the waters are always warm enough this time of year so if you stick to the bay side your fine, no seals, the waters about 8 degrees colder and stay in shallow water and your fine.

hmmmmm.....nope. Not sure I can ever get over it. I too am not sure how the CA and FL do it - if I saw a grey outline I would flip my lid and need the kayak to come get me.

<----------scaredy cat

now I hear there are FIVE!!!!!!

Edited by Seren 2009-09-09 12:43 PM

probably more...if seals swimming around then there are sharks.  We used to fish for Great Whites and Makos about 30 miles off the coast of Martha's Vinyard at a place they call the dumps (I believe where trash from NYC is dumped).  Anyhow, point is not that far a swim from where they are plentiful, combine a shifting Gulf Stream and food (seals) and its easy to see how you can have sharks in the water.

My home town is Cape Town, South Africa - that's where the Discover Channel filmed the great white's jumping out of the water at seal island. People swim the nearby beaches all the time, even with a huge number of the sharks in the vicinity - and even so the number of attacks have been low over the years. In recent years a shark spotting program has been implemented and the incident rate has dropped even further.
http://bit.ly/cvAcP

Also, here's a pic I took of a shark spotter sign at Noordhoek beach in Cape Town last summer: http://bit.ly/4G2zu3- my favorite line "A shark has been spotted in the area in the last 2 hours. Swimmers are advised to be cautious". Hehe...

Edited by FlyTheBlueSky 2009-09-09 3:00 PM

Just a point of clarification - the Dump is where the commercial fisherman dump their waste (50 miles off shore) which is why there is a huge fish population there.  Can you say chum and tons of it?  Fish go where the food is.  which is why its a popular fishing spot.
Trash from NYC is not dumped there, the federal govt ordered NYC to stop dumping their garbage in the Atlantic in the 1930's.  Now they use barges to transfer the trash to NJ, to help lessen trucks on the road, but dont dump it. 

My son tried surfing in Chatham on Sunday and was called out of the water by the police. He surfs there often and says its perfectly safe as Monomy Island ( off the coast of Chatham) is loaded with seals and they would much rather have a meaty seal than a skinny guy. Although its probably safe...I would much rather swim in a lake

I'm new to Boston and my first ocean swim race is on Nantasket beach on 9/27. How far away is this from where the sharks are spotted? The shark thing scares the crap out of me.

Fa Fa away...no worries!!!!

nice who wants to do some cage diving theres a boat out of p town that does it, atleast i know they used to like 5 years ago.

Thanks for clarification...never knew the history just that the fishing was very good.

The nantasket is swim is an 1/8 mile out and back for a total of .25.  You won't be out far enough for it to matter.  And if it did, it's like 90 miles away from Chatham.