Shark expert investigates possible attack off Cape Cod beach
Rick Leventhal reports from New York
The man who experts think was bitten by a great white shark off a Cape Cod beach said Wednesday he’s feeling “quite terrific,” but plans on staying closer to the shore from now on.
Christopher Myers told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Wednesday that he and his son were in deeper water trying to get to a sandbar off Ballston Beach in Truro on Monday when he was bitten on the lower part of both legs.
His son, J.J., said he heard a scream and looked back to see the fin of what state Marine Fisheries shark expert thinks was a great white. Myers, feeling dizzy, said he and his son then "swam hard" back to shore.
Myers, who is recuperating in Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston with bandages around both legs, said considering the circumstances, he feels "quite terrific."
Shark expert Gregory Skomal of the state Department of Fish and Game's Division of Marine Fisheries told the Cape Cod Times that the bite was likely the work of a great white shark after reviewing eyewitness descriptions of the fin, the presence of seals and the extent of the injury.
"However, only with examination of the injury and direct testimony from the victim will we have 100 percent confirmation," Skomal said in a statement Tuesday.
Great white shark sightings have increased off the coast of Massachusetts in the last several years, the newspaper reports, and state researchers have been monitoring and tagging the sharks since 2009. White sharks feed on seals and sea lions, and their migration to the state's coastal waters is linked to the growing number of gray seals that migrate here annually, state officials said. Great white sharks grow to about 20 feet in length, can weigh up to 3 tons and live for more than 30 years.
The last confirmed injury in Massachusetts by a great white shark occurred in 1936, state officials said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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