Tag Archives: sharks

Sharks vs. humans at play: Which side are we on?

I went swimming over the weekend at the same ocean beach in Wellfleet where the young man was killed by a shark last September. I had been thinking that, given the shark situation, I could eliminate ocean swimming from my recreation menu. But it was day two of the heat wave and the lowtide 2-4 […]

Contradictions of our modern romance of the ocean

There was an emotional gathering at Newcomb Hollow beach in Welllfleet in October to celebrate the life of the young man killed by a shark. Part of it was a “paddle-out” of dozens of surfers to form a circle. It took some guts to go out there, I thought, well beyond warnings on the posted […]

The shark crisis: speciesism vs. ecological altruism

In response to the shark fatality crisis, Wellfleet’s selectboard scheduled what was called by some a Shark Town Meeting. It filled the elementary school gym to overflowing, maybe half again the number of attendees as at the Special Town Meeting earlier the same week. After preliminary statements from town officials and shark experts, the meeting […]

Contradictions of shark romance

“We all knew this day would come” ran the big front page headline about the fatal shark attack in Wellfleet. Well, actually, no, we didn’t. Six deaths annually worldwide on average (and first fatality in Massachusetts in 82 years) is pretty good odds Sure, those odds rise when you eliminate all the people who don’t […]

Contradictions of Sharing Territory [CCT op-ed, 30 October 2012]

There are so many wildlife stories in these parts this newspaper could run a whole section on the subject right along with the sports section. Whether it’s songbirds, coyotes, washed ashore dolphins, or the seals, sharks and bear that have been preoccupying us in recent months, the deep story connecting all the stories is the […]