WELLFLEET – Despite two shark attacks last summer on the Outer Cape, including a fatality, the Wellfleet Select Board will allow surf schools to operate on town beaches.
Wellfleet joins the Cape Cod National Seashore in allowing surf lessons.
Selectmen in Orleans voted in the fall not to allow the popular lessons at Nauset Beach.
A 61-year-old New York man was seriously injured after an attack at Long Nook Beach in Truro in August. A few weeks later in September, a 26-year-old Revere man was killed from injuries suffered during an attack off Newcomb Hollow Beach in Wellfleet.
Select Board member Janet Reinhart said several instructors want to continue teaching.
“I trust they will use their judgement and if they feel comfortable I would let them teach,” Reinhart said.
“I don’t want to ban it.”
Select Board member Helen Wilson said she would rather have surfers out on the water who have had training and told about shark safety.
“If they are told as much as can be in a class like that and at least they have a little bit of training, I’d rather have them out in the water than people who just buy a board and try to learn,” Wilson said.
Beach Administrator Suzanne Grout agreed with the Select Board.
“I would like to see them continue because they are a valuable offering to the people who come here,” Grout said.
Grout did question whether the town needs to increase the liability insurance for the activity.
Grout said beach managers are working on an educational video on shark behavior and being alert in the water. She discussed with the board an option to require teachers to share the video with participants.
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