08-30-2012, 09:50 AM
maybe they will all leave early! 
![[Image: il_170x135.345415375.jpg]](http://img3.etsystatic.com/000/0/5847964/il_170x135.345415375.jpg)
Cape Cod Times
August 30, 2012
CHATHAM — Officials have banned swimming at all the town's east-facing ocean beaches, saying there are too many great white sharks offshore to take any chances.
The ban covers the town's barrier beaches from the Orleans town line down to the end of South Beach. Beaches along the inner portion of the harbor, including Lighthouse Beach in front of the stairway, Andrew Harding's Beach, Ridgevale, Cockle Cove, Forest Street and Pleasant Street beaches all remain open for swimming.
Not only have more great whites been seen close to beaches, but researchers from the state Division of Marine Fisheries have had an increased number of hits from the acoustic tags they've placed on some of the predators, Daniel Tobin, parks and recreation director in Chatham, said Wednesday afternoon. The acoustic tags emit a signal picked up by listening buoys along the Chatham shore and into Wellfleet.
Tobin said there also have been more reports of great whites from boaters, commercial fishermen and the scientists and contractors doing the tagging.
The tagging researchers, led by state shark expert Greg Skomal, recently reported sharks close to shore near swimmers, according to a statement from the parks department. The statement also said some fishermen have reported great whites in their nets, and a research spotter plane saw a white shark leaving Chatham Harbor east of the Chatham Lighthouse through the 1987 inlet.
Tobin said the swimming ban also took into account that there would be fewer eyes on the water as the boating season ends and town staffing drops.
Cape Cod Times
August 30, 2012
CHATHAM — Officials have banned swimming at all the town's east-facing ocean beaches, saying there are too many great white sharks offshore to take any chances.
The ban covers the town's barrier beaches from the Orleans town line down to the end of South Beach. Beaches along the inner portion of the harbor, including Lighthouse Beach in front of the stairway, Andrew Harding's Beach, Ridgevale, Cockle Cove, Forest Street and Pleasant Street beaches all remain open for swimming.
Not only have more great whites been seen close to beaches, but researchers from the state Division of Marine Fisheries have had an increased number of hits from the acoustic tags they've placed on some of the predators, Daniel Tobin, parks and recreation director in Chatham, said Wednesday afternoon. The acoustic tags emit a signal picked up by listening buoys along the Chatham shore and into Wellfleet.
Tobin said there also have been more reports of great whites from boaters, commercial fishermen and the scientists and contractors doing the tagging.
The tagging researchers, led by state shark expert Greg Skomal, recently reported sharks close to shore near swimmers, according to a statement from the parks department. The statement also said some fishermen have reported great whites in their nets, and a research spotter plane saw a white shark leaving Chatham Harbor east of the Chatham Lighthouse through the 1987 inlet.
Tobin said the swimming ban also took into account that there would be fewer eyes on the water as the boating season ends and town staffing drops.