CLOSE CALL ON CAPE AS SHARK ATTACKS
A 69-year-old Chatham man who was attacked by a shark while paddleboarding in the waters off Wellfleet is counting his blessings after a harrowing run-in with the massive predator left him with a once-in-a-lifetime story and a fearsome bite mark in his board.
“It was like a guy on a bicycle getting hit by a truck,” Cleveland Bigelow III said of the moment a shark took a chomp out of his board. “I mean the impact — I didn’t see the shark either coming or going and I was obviously pretty scared.”
Bigelow said he was paddleboarding in about three feet of water 30 yards off Marconi Beach about 10 a.m. yesterday when a shark violently attacked his paddleboard, sending him flying into the water. And though he made it to shore without being bitten, Bigelow had a bitten board as a souvenir.
“I’m guessing it was five to seven feet, but that’s just a guess,” Bigelow said, looking over the foot-wide bite mark outside his home.
“The shock was, as I said, a jolt,” Bigelow said. “And I had a sense of it going away. It was just really fast and, yeah, a lot of power.”
The Cape Cod National Seashore, which temporarily closed the beach, said it was high tide, seas were calm and seals were swimming nearby at the time.
If the shark was hungry, Bigelow said, he probably wouldn’t have survived the run-in.
“Clearly if the shark was interested in eating people, it would have immediately turned around, and I wouldn’t be talking to you,” Bigelow said. “There was no interest at all. It was just like, chomp, uh, surfboard, wrong thing. And then it left.”
Cape Cod National Seashore Interim Superintendent Kathy Tevyaw said the incident should serve as a reminder to beachgoers to be wary of sharks.
“We try to get the safety message out to folks to be very aware,” she said. “Sharks have always been
in this habitat. You should not swim alone; stay close to shore. Don’t swim or recreate near the sharks . ... It’s a lot of personal responsibility and awareness.”
News of the near-miss and a sign warning of the confirmed shark bite had other beachgoers thinking twice about dipping their toes in the water.
Bernard Sanders, a 46-year-old Boston native who now lives in Orleans, spent a half-hour in the water until he was about six feet deep, but no further. “On a normal day, I’d be swimming all day, way out there,” he said, “but today I feel a little nervous.”
Ryan Speicher, 21, of North Attleboro, went for a dip up to her waist and then bailed out.
“The ocean’s one of my biggest fears ever since I saw ‘Jaws’ in the second grade,” Speicher said. “There’s nothing really that you can do. The ocean is where the sharks live. They don’t know they’re doing anything wrong. They’re just hungry. And as long as the seals are here, the sharks will be, too.”
Malory Saki and her 1 1⁄2-year-old son Gabriel ventured out into the water but stopped when it reached his knees.
“I’m just being extra careful,” said Saki, 30, of Albany, N.Y. “It’s scary to think you’re swimming with (the sharks). But as long as you’re aware of your surroundings and not in too deep, I think you’re going to be OK.”