After shark attacks, is Cape Cod ready for tourist season?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

WELLFLEET, Mass. — As Cape Cod's tourist season gets underway, there's uncertainty after two shark attacks — including Massachusetts' first fatal attack since 1936 — rattled beachgoers last year and sparked a still unresolved debate about how the vacation destination should respond.

Among the questions on many minds this Memorial Day holiday weekend: Will there be more attacks? Will the region's billion-dollar tourism economy take a hit as scared beachgoers stay away? And is there anything that can be done to make the sea safer?

At Longnook Beach in Truro, where a New York man was badly mauled by a shark but survived on Aug. 15, resident Beckett Rotchford said he'll likely skip the boogie boarding this summer and stick to swimming at lifeguard-monitored beaches rather than more secluded stretches of sand like Longnook.

But he isn't in favor of some of the more drastic measures pushed by some, such as shark barriers around popular swimming beaches.

"That's their habitat. We can't restrict their ability to swim," Rotchford said as he walked along the shore with his dog. "I think we can coexist, but occasionally attacks happen. It's just the reality."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/after-shark-attacks-is-cape-cod-ready-for-tourist-season/ar-AABQKIb?li=BBnbcA1

[Dennis Donovan]

1. Shark summer?

Reminds me of a summer long ago that was consumed by the disappearance of an intern, and ended with 9/11...

[CentralMass]

7. Really ?

[Dennis Donovan]

10. um, yeah?

What's yer beef with what I wrote?

[MiniMe]

2. If you see Roy Scheider on a boat, RUN!!

[JHB]

5. If you're on a boat, that could be counterproductive

I mean, either you're just running around the boat, or you're running over the side, right where the shark wants you.

And on land, you don't need to run from a shark unless someone says "Candygram."

[CentralMass]

8. Considering that he died in 2008, yes.

[MiniMe]

11. Didn't know when, but I knew he had died

It was more a Jaws reference

[msongs]

3. how many ppl were killed by gun users in MA in the past year? nt

[TeamPooka]

4. no more calls, we have a winner. nt

[spanone]

6. ⇧ ⇧ ⇧ ⇧ ⇧

[DFW]

9. My family and I have been going to Longnook Beach every year since 1984.

And that is a 4000 mile trip for us, so you know we love the place. Yes, it is secluded, but we find it one to be of North America's most beautiful beaches, and are reluctant to give it up.

Seals are the problem, as they are the reason the sharks are there. They don't bother human swimmers and human simmers don't bother them, but sharks don't realize that humans thrashing about where seals swim are not as tasty. So---chomp.

Seals tend to swim by Longnook more frequently in the morning or at dusk, so we will be restricting our hours this year, and heeding all warnings. But asking us to stay away from Longnook completely after 35 fabulous years in a row, well, that is one tall order.

We're going. We'll be careful to the point of being paranoid, but we're going. A summer without Longnook is to us like the month of July without the Fourth.