Great White Shark Attack on Cape Cod: Is 'Jaws' Still Dangerous?

It was confirmed today that in was in fact a great white shark that attacked a man last week in Cape Cod. (If you can't now hear the Jaws music in your head, slowly increasing in volume, then you need to go watch the movie again immediately.) The great white is probably the most infamous of all sharks, and also the most feared. Chris Myers, the man whose legs were nearly bitten off, can attest to that.

So how did they figure out it was a great white? Reginald Zimmerman of the office of Energy and Environmental Affairs said they knew after examining the victim's injuries and hearing his testimony. Myers said: "It felt like I was in a very, very heavy vise." He maintained a sense of humor about the terrifying ordeal, saying, "I figured it was either an elephant...a polar bear...or a shark. So pretty quickly I got to shark." He's lucky, too, because he swam to the shore just fine--legs still intact. Myers said he was euphoric after realizing he had just survived a great white shark attack. He had some severed tendons in his leg (cringe), and some puncture wounds--(and besides the possible post-traumatic stress disorder he'll face) he'll be okay.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Most people know that sharks do not attack people on purpose. The reason there have been so many sightings lately is because seals have been returning to the area in droves, and when you're swimming in the middle of a shark's food source, well, attacks are more likely. This is not a Jaws-situation where the shark is expressly hunting vacationers for food. So it's impossible to say whether the shark is still 'at large' and very unlikely that the same one would attack again. Still, though, it's pretty scary. Just try not to hang out with any seals this summer.

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