Sharks Rattle Nerves on Cape Cod, but Attacks on Humans Rare

BOSTON (AP) — You can’t blame beachgoers on Cape Cod for being jittery after a spate of recent shark sightings, some just a bit too close for comfort. Scientists say it’s all part of a natural ecosystem that humans must accept.

Last Wednesday, just off Marconi Beach in Wellfleet, a white shark took a bite out of a paddleboard, throwing its rider into the water.

Two days earlier, a shark fed on a seal at Nauset Beach in Orleans, turning the sea red with blood and sending terrified swimmers and surfers scrambling for shore.

Shark experts say people should be vigilant and respect the fearsome creatures, which have likely been drawn in larger numbers to the Northeast by a growing seal population.

But they say shark attacks on humans remain extremely rare.

On Saturday, swimmers were ordered out of the water at Head of the Meadow Beach in Truro after a shark was spotted off shore. On Sunday, a shark was detected just north of Nauset Light Beach in Eastham.

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