York Town News
Summer brings talk of sharks
By Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK - Although talk of possible shark sightings off the local coast has people talking, there have been no substantiated reports this season, according to public safety officials.
That is not to say that shark sightings are impossible, York Police Chief Douglas Bracy and Parks and Recreation Director Mike Sullivan confirmed in the past week, recalling last summer's reports of a basking shark - a filter feeder that posed no threat to humans other than its huge size - in an area off Long Sands Beach.
Bracy said that the bait fish - such as hearing - are on the move now, and the town's harbor master knows what to be on the watch for in the event that a predatory shark makes its way closer to shore.
Sullivan said there have been no direct reports of any shark sightings along York's beaches beyond the "coffee shop talk" being heard around town. Following the first full weekend of lifeguards on duty, he said Monday that no reports came in to the lifeguards and the lifeguards, in turn, saw nothing in the water to cause concern.
Sullivan said that should any reports come in, his department and the town's public safety staff will certainly look into them.
"There's never been a shark attack in the history of Maine," Sullivan said, adding that does not mean it couldn't happen, but that generally speaking sharks in the waters around York remain miles from the shore.
"They are in the Gulf Stream," Sullivan said. "They're in the food chain."
Bracy agreed.
"The Gulf Stream being outside of Boon Island is not an unusual thing," Bracy said of one rumor of a shark preying on a seal in that area.
The possibility is there, he said, but he stressed that humans are not the food source of choice for such predators.
"There will be sharks around, and stripers and bluefish," he said, adding that unlike Southern states, the possible presence of sharks causes more interest because residents and visitors to the chilly Maine Atlantic are not as accustomed to them. "The key is to use common sense."
