Seal Attacked Off Monomoy Island

July 1, 2008

Last friday, June 28th, Capt. Bob Littlefield and the fourteen passengers on the 42-foot, catamaran seal watching boat that he was piloting for Monomoy Island Excursions of Harwich Port, MA witnessed a shark attack and kill a seal during a seal watching cruise to the Monomoy Island National Wildlife Refuge just off the coast of Chatham, Massachusetts.

Monomoy Island National Wildlife Refuge is home to hundreds of seals and also a favored feeding ground for several species of sharks including the great white, mako, and thresher.

Capt. Littlefield estinmated that the seal that was attacked weighed 300 to 400 pounds and that the shark was between 14 and 16 feet in length. He believes that it was a great white shark.

There have been great white shark sightings in the Monomoy Island area over the past few years as the seal population has steadily increased.

A similar explosion in seal populations off the California and Mexico coastlines has resulted in many more observed shark attacks on the Pacific coastline. Unfortunately the California and Mexico coastal waters are shared by both seals and surfers.

This year at least three surfers and swimmers have been killed by sharks in the waters off the coast of California and Mexico.

Here is a link to the article by K.C. Myers that appeared on CapeCodOnline.com about the shark attack off Monomoy Island.