7/13/2005

Sharks only perceived as danger to Ocean City beachgoers
By Don Klein

Swimmers should have no fear entering the local surf this year despite several reports of shark attacks in Florida and elsewhere. History has shown that taking a dip in Ocean City’s cooling waters is one of the safest pastimes as far as shark attacks are concerned.

“You are more likely to be struck by lightning than attacked by a shark here,” contends First Lieutenant Skip Lee of the Ocean City Beach Patrol. He added reassuringly, “As long as records have been kept, no shark attacks have been reported off Ocean City.”

When lifeguards, also known as surf rescue technicians (SRT), blow their whistles to order people out of the Ocean City surf the reason is more likely to be to avoid dangerous situations like floating logs (which have fallen from barges), or large schools of non-carnivorous fish in areas used by vacationers for swimming and plantlike organisms like concentrations of algae in the water.

Lieutenant Lee said the SRTs are more concerned with rip currents than sharks.  They are more dangerous than sharks for obvious reasons.  The New York Times recently reported that more people are killed in the United States by rip currents than in hurricanes and tornadoes.

The fear of shark attacks rose recently when the public became aware of the spate of shark attacks along the Gulf Coast of Florida. A 14-year-old girl from Louisiana, Jamie Marie Daigle died when a shark attacked her in the waters off Destin, Fla.  A short time later a 16-year-old boy, Craig Hutto, was similarly attacked and his leg had to amputated.

Then Armin Projer, a 19-year-old Austrian tourist, was bitten on the ankle by a shark while standing in chest high water near Boca Grande, Florida. Closer to home on June 5, Ryan Horton, 17, was bitten on the ankle in the waters off Surf City, New Jersey. Experts believe he was a victim of a young great white shark or a sand shark.  Both young men survived the attacks.

Though there are few events at the beach that create more concern than the fear of shark attacks, scientists stress that sharks rarely set upon humans.  Beach-goers face greater risk from drowning and even lightning strikes.  

In Ocean City the ever-alert beach patrol coordinates a watchfulness for dangerous situations in the water with the pilots of airplanes, which tow advertising messages across the beachfront all day in season. The pilots watch for objects in the water and notify SRT authorities when they see suspicious things along the shoreline. The lifeguards are alerted and may warn swimmers to safety depending on the circumstances.

“They have a bird’s eye view” Lieutenant Lee said. “They fly low and close to the shoreline.”  The beach patrol also works with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources police when rescues are needed.  Ocean City’s emergency medical rescue teams are always on hand to treat anyone injured in the water.

Rip currents, otherwise known as undertow, are the most dangerous. They can appear suddenly and in specific areas. There are many causes such as depressions in the sea floor and shifting sands during high tide.  Rips can strike within one or two beach blocks and not others at a given time.

Asked if his SRTs have instructions on how to ward off a shark that might attack, Lieutenant Lee said there has never been such an instance but if it occurred: “We could hit them with our rescue (buoy).”

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