Swimming has been banned in sections of a wildlife refuge in Nantucket after sharks were spotted ripping apart seals just off the coastline.
In the past few days, five seals are believed to have been killed by sharks leading officials with the Trustees of Reservations and US Fish and Wildlife Service to close the Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge, a remote barrier beach, in the popular Massachusetts tourists region
Swimming is no longer allowed in the area and will remain in place 'until further notice.'
'This is not a decision we've made lightly. Visitors' safety is our utmost concern, especially given the remote location of this beach should a serious incident occur,' said Sarah Cassell, a Trustees spokesperson said.
'We'll continue to monitor shark activity in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.'
The Trustees say the swimming ban is a 'more proactive' measure rather than a complete beach closure that often occurs following shark sightings.
A swimming ban has been put in place on sections of a wildlife refuge in Nantucket, Massachusetts, after great white sharks were seen preying on seals near the shore
Swimming in the area is now prohibited until further notice although the beach remains open and bathing will still be allowed in other parts of the refuge (file photo)
Videos posted online show sharks preying on seals along Great Point beach.
'Those videos are pretty troubling and no human could survive that, we know that,' Diane Lang, the Trustees stewardship manager said to the Nantucket Current.
'The policy is in place now. We're telling our visitors no swimming at Great Point. I was in touch with U.S. Fish & Wildlife and they're in full agreement.
'We saw people jumping in the water over the Fourth of July,' Lang said. 'We have visitors come out and they're naive to their surroundings.'
The population of great white sharks has grown just as the numbers of seals have also increased. The sharks often hunt the mammals in shallow waters.
Although shark attacks on humans are extremely rare, and have occurred on Nantucket, the growing shark population has now led towns to consider their policies of what is safe for those venturing into the waters.
Now, the swimming ban is in place for parts of the beach.
The wildlife service say 'there is currently no projected timeline' as to how long the swimming ban will be in force (file photo)
Swimmers are still allowed in other parts of the refuge but have been advised to exercise caution. They are advised to steer clear from swimming near the seals' area.
The wildlife service say 'there is currently no projected timeline' as to how long the swimming ban will be in force.
The seals have left the tip of the refuge, known as Great Point, since the shark attacks, but they are expected to return.
Great Point is known to have a massive seal population on a year-round basis, although even they appear to have been spooked by the shark attacks.
'I've seen maybe three seals since this happened,' Lang told the Current. 'They're gone. They saw.'
As the summer heats up, the United States continues to lead the number of shark attacks in the world
Last year, the country saw 41 of 57 confirmed cases worldwide, which is a shocking 72 percent of the world's total for 2022, according to the International Shark Attack File.
More specifically, Florida is by far the shark capital of the world, registering 16 unprovoked nonlethal bites last year - the most attacks of any other state or any single place, for that matter.
The state's Volusia County, known as a shark hot spot, saw 44 percent of the total attacks.
New York saw the next most attacks last year, with eight total. Hawaii was next, with five total bites, one of which was fatal.
Drove mages obtained by DailyMail.com show at least three sharks swimming close to the shore in Southampton, New York, on Saturday
The total global number of shark attacks last year, however, was less than the average of 70 cases worldwide of the five years prior. The total numbers of cases in the U.S. also went down last year from 2021's 47 reported attacks.
Moreover, 2022 saw five fatal unprovoked shark bites - two in Egypt, two in South Africa, and one in Hawaii.
As of July 10, there have already been seven fatal unprovoked shark attacks this year, including three in Australia and two in Egypt.
ISAF defines an unprovoked shark attack as 'incidents in which a bite on a live human occurs in the shark's natural habitat with no human provocation of the shark.'
And the nation is on track to register the most shark bites worldwide this year again; it has seen 23 of 42 reported attacks globally.
The New York area is particularly on high alert this summer.
Last week a 15-year-old was attacked by a shark off the coast of Fire Island. The surfer said the shark had lodged its teeth into his left heel and toes, but they still remained intact.
Three more people were bitten the next day, including a 47-year-old man swimming in chest-deep water off Quogue Village Beach, police said. He had cuts to his knee.
The two others, a 49-year-old man at Pines Beach and a woman at Cherry Grove, both suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Fire Island will now remain on high alert for the rest of the summer after six shark attacks took place in three weeks in the area last summer.
According to ISAF, 'Year-to-year variability in oceanographic, socioeconomic and meteorological conditions significantly influences the local abundance of sharks and humans in the water.'
The majority of unprovoked shark attacks were recorded in the USA and Australia last year, however single bites also occurred in New Zealand, Thailand and Brazil
Since 2000, the year 2015 holds the record for the most shark attacks in one year, with 111 unprovoked attacks.
The International Shark Attack File has recorded 1,604 unprovoked shark attacks in the U.S. since the 16th century. The next country with the most attacks, Australia, has seen less than half than the U.S., 691.
The number of yearly shark attacks has risen over the last 70 years; in 1950, there were 50 reports of shark attacks worldwide, and by 2020 the average number of bites each year had risen to 70.
An increase in shark sightings might suggest a healthier ecosystem, some say. Cleaner waters allow the small fish that sharks feed on to flourish. More small fish swimming closer to shore means more sharks nipping at their tails.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaKaVrMBwrdGtoJyklWJ%2Bc36XbW9vbV%2BIxKq5zKKloGWSlruvscNmp5qqpKh6j63Nrayco5WperXDzmaqoZmioMBuv8SepWaclau8tr7Ip55mq5WWubR50qGmq52cnrumesetpKU%3D