Pirate's Cove

You had to know this was coming, right?

Scientists have an explanation why there is an increase of shark attacks off East Coast

Underwater creatures that have been dominating the oceans since before the dinosaurs roamed the earth have been causing quite a stir this summer with what seems like an increase in interactions with beachgoers.

An uptick in human-shark interactions has been occurring on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean off Long Island, New York — so much so that beaches have closed as surfers, lifeguards and swimmers alike suffer bites from curious sharks in search of food.

At least five shark attacks have occurred in the Northeast since June 30. Further south in Keaton Beach, Florida, a teen survived a shark bite after punching the shark in the nose. On Wednesday, a dead great white shark washed ashore on Kismet Beach on Fire Island, a barrier island in New York.

Wait, a shark attack in Florida? That never happens. Have the people at Good Morning America ever been to Florida (how many of them blew out of NY to escape the COVID restrictions?) and visited the beaches? I’ve been surfing there in several spots where sharks were around. I’ve seen the news taking overhead shots of sharks close to shore that people never notice. I’ve seen a nurse shark swim through some old folks off of St. Petersburg. The old folks, certainly locals, didn’t move. I’ve also had my board bumped off the Jersey shore, and it wasn’t by fish…well, you know what I mean, it was a shark.

Here is why there seem to be more shark attacks on the East Coast this summer, according to experts:

Global warming may play a factor

While there is no data to suggest climate change is responsible for pushing sharks closer to the shore, there may be other factors in which warmer waters cause sharks to venture near human beings, James Sulikowski, marine biologist and founder of Arizona State University’s Sulikowski Shark and Fish Conservation Lab, told ABC News. (red bold mine)

If your article says “there is no data”, then it is no story at all. It’s certainly not scientific. It’s cult scaremongering propaganda. Now, can it be correct? Certainly. It wouldn’t prove anthropogenic causation. If I’m looking at the water temperatures right now off the Jersey shore, they are higher than when I was growing up and surfing their in the 80’s and early 90’s at this time of the year. There are other factors that can contribute to this, and it gets into all sorts of things like offshore storms (which can dredge up colder water from lower levels), the temp of the south flowing flows just offshore, and others, besides simple warming from the sun.

Sharks tend to prefer cooler waters, the experts said, so it could be possible they are traveling farther north earlier in the year as they seek more desirable temperatures.

Yet, sharks proliferate in Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and other warm water areas. Now, here’s probably the reality, way down in the article

In addition, efforts to clear up waterways in major port cities like the Tristate area have led to cleaner waters and a rebound in marine life, Sam Muka, a professor of marine science history at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, told ABC News.

Up until about two decades ago, New York and New Jersey historically dumped its trash as far as 204 miles into the ocean, Muka said. There are theories that sharks are not so much moving northward because of climate change but rather returning to waters they previously frequented, Muka said.

Another reason why there may appear to be more sharks off the East Coast is due to an increase of conservation in the U.S., Heithaus said. While shark populations are still considered critical globally, marine biologists are beginning to see the effects of effective fisheries management, which is then leading to population increases across a number of species that provide food for sharks, Heithaus said.

Less garbage and better conservation means more sharks. I’ve seen the result of illegally dumping garbage, and medical waste, off the coast. That garbage, which can lower the fish counts and the oxygen of the water. There had been a huge dead zone off the coast of NJ from all the dumping. That’s rebounding. But, of course, the climate cult has to involved itself in everything, even with no data.