According to experts, a deadly shark attack in Maine may be related to the rebound of shark populations after they faced near destruction 40 years ago along the New England coast.
Julie Dimperio Holowach, a 63-year-old fashion executive from Manhattan, was swimming in waters off Maine’s Bailey Island on Monday when she was attacked and killed by a great white shark. The incident is the state’s first fatal encounter with sharks, following a 10-year attack that did not injure.
After overfishing nearly wiped out the large white population in the 1980s, their populations are beginning to recover in natural populations in New England waters. Robert Hueter, chief scientist and director of the Mote Marine Laboratory Shark Research Center, attributes this to the marine mammal fishing bans that have been in place since 1972 and the regulations restricting harmful fish gear that were enacted to early 1990s.
Sharks will follow their food, Hueter said. Wherever seals, dolphins, porpoises, and other prey go, you can also expect sharks.
“This is a natural predator-prey relationship that goes back eons,” Hueter said. “It is not surprising that with a restored seal population we see the seal predator there.”
After the attack, officials sent a tooth fragment to a shark biologist at the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Division who identified the creature as a large target.
The great white sharks off the coast of Maine are not new, Hueter said.
In the summer season, sharks travel as far north as Canada to find their preferred 60-65F water temperature. Cape Cod waters are a great magnet for shark populations. But the rising temperature of the water extending north could also be pushing sharks that way. However, increased food availability, in the form of more seals, is more likely to attract sharks than increased water temperatures, Hueter said.
Great whites are also ambush attackers, meaning they swim underneath their predators and rush to the surface, and the shark likely misled Holowach, who was wearing a dark wetsuit, for a seal or other prey.
Shark attacks are very rare, but there are a few simple steps to staying safe in New England waters, starting with avoiding swimming near large schools of fish, herds of seals, and other large common white prey. Also, swimmers should avoid wearing dark clothing and should not swim alone.
Sharks are also much more threatened by humans than vice versa. Every year millions of sharks are killed for food or for sport. About 17% of all shark species are endangered or vulnerable.
“People should always remember that the ocean is a wild place. It’s like taking a walk in the deep forest and you have to know how to avoid encounters with bears, “said Hueter.
