Great white sharks coming closer to shore, people
Most of the country has experienced this week's dangerously high temperatures. But add one more hazard to the list this summer: shark sightings off our nation's beaches. Great whites have been spotted on both coasts and though nobody has been hurt, some encounters have been way too close for comfort.
A photo from Cape Cod captures every kayaker's worst fear. You see Walter Szulc looking back over his shoulder in panic. Ten feet away: the dorsal fin of a great white shark.
The same day, in Santa Cruz Calif. a great white took a bite out another kayak. The man inside was thrown into the water, but survived.
"We have sharks in the area at all times, so people need to be aware of that and just be careful," said Santa Cruz sheriff's deputy April Skalland.
They're just the latest in great white encounter, with hot temperatures bringing them earlier. But it's not the people they're after -- it's the exploding seal populations that have moved closer to shore.
Leading shark expert Ralph Collier says because seals are protected species and sharks -- their natural predator -- have been over-hunted, there's now about a quarter million grey seals on the Eastern Seaboard alone.
"The sharks go where the food is," he said. Breeding grounds like one in Cape Cod are a Vegas buffet for sharks.
On the West Coast 10 years ago there were 100,000 seals and sea lions, Collier said. Today there are over 400,000.
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