I was waiting for Matt to pitch in. He is to my knowledge the most formidable rough water surfskier on the North Shore, going far out in all sorts of big conditions. I don’t and never will have his surfski skill and therefore would be hesitant to go into sharky water on my surfski. My purely personal fear would be the lack of bulkheads in a ski if Jaws chomps into it. Even if he didn’t bite the ski, I’d get so unstable from nerves that I’d take a spill. It’s probably unfounded fear, odds are low, but I have my limits. If have no such hesitation in my Taran and will continue to do my rounds around Crane, closed beach or not. I’m under no illusion that that same shark or one of his sisters/brothers has been around Crane most of this season just like they’ve probably curiously watched me and others on trips to IOS and countless trips to Halfway Rock. There’s significant yummy seal populations south of Bakers, on the eastern edge of IOS and around the Pigs and Piglets. Some big ones have been filmed from boats within 100 yds off Plum Island just around the corner from Crane.

Hi Prudence and All, I've done a brief search of local shark experts and have a plan to contact a few of them on Monday.  I'm hoping to find someone who might do a zoom presentation during the winter months.  I'm also looking into someone who might do a zoom presentation on whales and other marine life in our waters.   I think the suggestions of grouping up and heading to shallow waters make sense as strategies until we get some expert advice...assuming there is some expert advice out there ! Sue

Nice Photos Jim! Here is the track from the paddle and start/lunch photos. Official paddle was to the West of the start/finish and was 8.4 NM The track to the East was what Geri and I did afterwards was 4.5 NM - was fun and interesting to explore the inner harbor. Got to see the Coast Guard towing/docking the Harbor Masters boat, and later stopped at 10 Pound Island to explore.

Of the three sharks that I've actually seen in my 12 years of paddling consistently every season on the North Shore, logging an average of 100 on-water sessions a year, two were great whites, and one was a basking shark.  All three were amazing -- and unnerving -- experiences.  The basking shark was my first encounter -- I was near Nahant on a foggy morning in 2015 much like this past Wednesday.  As to be expected, seeing it was completely unexpected.  The size of the animal (particularly its dorsal fin...) blew me away -- I was able to quickly discern the species based on the shape of the fin which is the only reason I didn't completely panic.  I managed to keep an eye on it while completing my outbound leg to Nahant and then turned and paddled the ~3mi back Swampscott. The first great white was a couple years ago -- I was about 1/2mi out from Off Rock in Swampscott  similar to Prudence's experience I came upon a school of fish and it jumped right out of the water about 25 yards from me.  It was about 8ft long and got a pretty good look at it -- pretty sure it wasn't a mako.  I had to make a decision about whether to head to shore or continue with my paddling session -- I figured the odds were in my favor at that point, so I just kept paddling Last year I was ~3mi straight out from Fisherman's Beach planning to turn and ride the onshore wind+waves back to Swampscott.  I was about 1/10th of a mile from my turnaround point (5km) and a dorsal fin presented itself out of a wave about 100 feet away from me.  This time it wasn't a basking shark dorsal fin, however.  It went below the surface of the water and I questioned whether it was just a wave peak that I saw.  Then it came up again about 50 feet away.  Absolutely a great white fin, about 10 inches tall.  The hair on my neck stood up at that point and I hit my left rudder pedal and paddled straight back to the beach. Now I am constantly checking Sharktivity and looking everywhere, everytime I go out, which is still all the time.  I'm sure I've come into proximity of more than a few interested animals this year, although I haven't seen anything.  I did see a small humpback whale breach in ~20ft of water just outside of Swampscott Harbor on July 14th, which again reminded me that there's all sorts of wildlife out there, and you really can't know these animals are present unless they decide to present themselves, even if they are just a few inches under the surface. Welp, look at the clock, it's time to go for a paddle! Matt

Prudence, the leaping shark you saw, and I remember when it happened and where, likely was a Mako shark chasing prey. I won't say it isn't harmless, because there are Tiger and Bull sharks, mainly in the south and the Tiger in Hawaii, who are downright nasty and, in the case of the Tiger, will eat anything not nailed down -- remember the scene in "Jaws"?. We talked to the MA Fish and Wildlife guy at the Topsfield Fair after, and he, who worked with Greg Skomal and AWSC, confirmed that the jumper was likely a Mako. As for the sightings off Crane: Great Whites can range up to Nova Scotia. They are there, and always have been, including (obviously) Downeast ME where they are rarely seen. We've paddled AND surfed, AND played in the current in the shallower waters off Crane, so reading about possible close encounters made me a tad nervous about that area. Bob and I are very aware of the shark-y presences in our waters; divers here in Gloucester have reported seeing more and more sharks, including the Landlord, out by the Salvages, which is expected given the number of gray seals -- yum yum -- there. I have no knowledge of how to deal with ANY shark I'd encounter, let alone a GW who is one of the few sharks that likes to stick its head out of the water to say "Howdy". My 4* training never, like yours, talked about dealing with sharks. I recall paddling twice off Pembrokeshire and seeing lots and lots of seals, grays mainly, as it was fall and pupping season, but none of those friendly local paddlers can recall ever seeing a Great White. Either they're not hanging out in that particular dining area, or they just aren't in that area of the Atlantic. I guess the best advice I can give is to not paddle at dawn and/or dusk, and paddle away from a fin unless it's from an Ocean Sunfish, who are frequently seen in our area. I think Whitey is more interested in minding its own business, finding a nice fat juicy seal to snack on, or is simply stupidly curious. The GWS population will start thinning out as they head south come November; to be safe, I don't think I'd add the Outer Cape to a fun place to paddle or swim. Evidently Greg Skomal only goes wading to his knees when he's hanging out on the Cape Cod National Seashore -- and he's an expert. If you want to track The Landlords' presence along out New England coast, here's a link to Atlantic White Shark Conservacy, where you can get the app Sharktivity for free:  www.atlanticwhiteshark.org. It's a fun app on your phone and it notifies you when a shark is sighted.  However, that ping can be a tad distracting when it goes off in the middle of a YMCA class There's also OCEANRCH, the organization that tracks Great Whites by landing them onto the open deck of their research vessel and taking the vitals,  clipping a tracker into the top fin, and letting them go. They've proven worthwhile to GW research, but they are also considered somewhat controversial because of their methods. They, too, have an app; I don't have it as I'm a Dr Greg Skomal fan, I've lived on Cape Cod, and I feel that the AWSC method of tracking is a less harmful to the shark but still gives good information.