Cape Cod, which juts out into the Atlantic Ocean, is enjoyed by tourists due to its in beaches and sites of naval historical significance. However, it has lately become home to numerous pods of seals, hence attracting more sharks in the area. Only two summers ago, one man was reported to have been bitten.
Because of this, a consortium of harbormasters and officials of Lower Cape circulated a total of 415,000 brochures in a bid to provide information about sharks and educate both tourists and locals in case a shark is sighted. The state's Community Innovation Challenge program shelled out $22,500 for the project.
The brochure, which contained a cover picture reminiscent to the movie Jaws, may cause sensationalized thinking regarding sharks, prompting the public to fear them and eventually steer clear of the beaches.
"The cover has an extra-mean, toothy picture of a shark," said Richard Delaney, president of the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown. "It's one more example of how we, as a society, have this general myth that these guys are big, nasty creatures."
He added that the brochures may have gone too far in attempting to warn the public, to the point that they have discouraged people to go into the waters. Delaney suggested that the premise about the best way to avoid any encounter with sharks is staying on shore be removed.
Meanwhile, chief executive Wendy Northcross of Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce pointed out that the brochures may spur shark hunts, which may generate concern among biologists monitoring marine life around the Cape.
However to Nathan Sears, natural resources manager for Orleans, they are "just trying to raise public awareness."
"It's the reality of what's happening in our ocean at the moment. From a management perspective, making the public aware of the situation is our biggest tool," he said. The Orleans group is the principal agency in the consortium.
Aside from the brochures, the consortium also spent another $15,000 for signs scattered at the beaches of the Outer Cape to alert beachgoers of sharks and rip currents.
The pamphlets will now be "kept behind a desk rather than in public" along with the brochures of beaches without any reported shark sighting.
