RYE — Recent shark sightings around central and southern New England have at least a few beachgoers with a familiar movie theme song playing in their heads.



Despite those sightings, and their musical accompaniment, a representative with the New England Aquarium says incidences of shark sightings north of Cape Cod remain low. And actual encounters with the animals remain even rarer still.



Wallis Sands State Beach was closed to swimming this past Monday following two unconfirmed shark sightings. The beach was reopened to swimming the following day.



Tony LaCasse, spokesperson for the New England Aquarium, said from the descriptions of the animal seen in Rye — approximately 5-6 feet in length — that it was, in all likelihood, a Blue Shark, a large fish, common to New England waters during the summer time, which feeds on smaller fish.



"(The Blue Shark) is the most likely candidate on the New Hampshire seacoast," he said. "Striper fishing has been exceptional recently and that's primarily what they're up there for. There are blue sharks off the coast of New Hampshire. They're not often close, meaning within the swim zone of a public beach. Blue sharks are the most common large shark in New England waters. Shark density in New England and shark encounters in New England are really low compared to the rest of the country. But there are sharks there all the time, but they're generally off shore."



A kayaker in Orleans, Mass., was recently followed by a large shark while out on a cruise. A photo of the man's trip clearly shows a large dorsal fin following close behind. At the time of the encounter it was reported the man was followed by a Great White Shark.



But, Massachusetts shark expert Greg Skomal of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries has since concluded the tagalong was in fact a Basking Shark, a large sea creature that feeds solely on animal plankton. The giant sharks are common to the area this time of year.



Among the big three shark species that are sometimes a threat to people globally, only one species, great whites — an animal made infamous thanks to the 1975 Steven Spielberg film "Jaws" — frequent area waters, said LaCasse. And they are rarely seen north of Cape Cod.



"There's always a possibility of a Great White in the area," he said. "It's typically going to be a transient and they're just passing through. They principally are south of Cape Cod."



LaCasse said there are two major factors that keep the Great Whites out of New Hampshire waters. The first, is the seal population.



In the Gulf of Maine the most common seal is the Harbor Seal, which tend to be small and the population is relatively low in number.



Secondly, the topography of the ocean floor off the coast of the Granite State make for difficult hunting for a large shark.



"Cape Cod is so dramatically different," said LaCasse. "It's a big peninsula sticking out into a large marine environment and there's the difference in the seal species."



At the "elbow" of Cape Cod, off the coast of Chatham, the most common seals are Gray Seals, which tend to be larger and more numerous in that area.



"That is an established habitat for Great Whites," LaCasse said. "The elbow of Cape Cod is now a primary feeding ground."



But even on the Cape the chances of encountering a Great White while swimming are very low. The Gray Seals, and the Great Whites that feed on them, are most numerous in Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, which is all but inaccessible to swimmers.



"You can't even pull a boat up to it if you wanted to," said LaCasse.



While shark sightings are rare in New Hampshire waters, LaCasse said the reaction to closing Wallis Sands to swimming is the right choice following such a sighting.



"When there's a shark presence people should still be getting out of the water," he said. "It's about being prudent and cautious. It's like any large wildlife and we need to closely monitor those kinds of animals."



There are some steps that oceanside visitors can take to minimize the chances of a shark encounter, said LaCasse.



"If you see a seal in the water, get out of the water," he said, as seals and sea lions are on the menu for large sharks.



"If there's an exceptional amount of diving birds in the area, that means bait fish, which will increase the possibility of a shark encounter. Staying away can also reduce the chance of having an interaction with a blue fish or dogfish. Don't swim at dusk and dawn."



And possibly most importantly, don't swim alone.



"We do know that people are hit when they're are swimming alone," said LaCasse. "A lot of people don't typically die from being eaten, but from blood loss and an inability to get back to shore."



LaCasse said the last two documented encounters with marine life in New Hampshire waters had nothing to do with sharks.



The most recent was during the summer of 2010, also at Wallis Sands, when a large lion's mane jellyfish got a little too close to shore. Roughly 150 people were stung during the incident. Only minor injuries were reported at the time.



Prior to that incident, LaCasse said one has to go back to the 1990s for another occurrence of sea life attacking humans.



At that time, several swimmers in Seabrook were bitten by Blue Fish. The result of that encounter:



"Quite a few people ended up with between 5-8 stitches," LaCasse said.



As for shark-related fatalities, there is not a single such incident on record in the waters of New Hampshire, said LaCasse.



The most recent shark death in New England occurred in the waters off Cape Cod back in the 1930s.



In waters, "a baseballs throw off the end of the pier," at Hollywood Beach in Mattapoisett Mass., according to a newspaper account at the time of the incident, two young men were swimming during the late afternoon hours when one was pulled below the water's surface by what is believed to be a Great White Shark. Sixteen-year-old Joseph Troy Jr., was brought to an area hospital, but succumbed to his injury later that evening in 1936.



In contrast, said LaCasse, people have a lot more to fear from themselves while spending time on the shore.



"In over 75 years there's been a single shark fatality," LaCasse said. "In that time 1,000 times that many people have died at the beach from drowning. Quite often they overestimate their swimming ability or underestimating tidal currents. That is off the charts. But if people want to be afraid of wildlife going to the beach in this area they stand a much better chance of dying on the way to the beach by hitting a deer."











