Has it been the Summer of Sharks, or what?

I probably said this earlier but the day both those kids each lost an arm on Oak Island, NC, I was paddling with Brian in the same waters. At one point we spooked a sizable bull shark out of the shallows literally steps from the beach. The water was maybe 3 feet deep, and the shore drops off steeply. "She" exploded past me when my boat came between her and the open water. Startled the heck out of me! I surmised that she was sunbathing in the shallows. She made me a little reluctant to exit my boat right there. But, I figured she was already gone, frightened, and probably would not come back to that location anytime soon.

On Saturday, 9-5-15, we paddled around Coltons Point MD from Chaptico Wharf to Newtone Neck State Park. It was a one-way trip with shuttle. It is hard to see on the map below but our track is a white line.

In the days preceding the trip this bull shark turned up in the nets that we would be paddling past on Saturday. Bull sharks often enter the Potomac River in the later part of summer. The water is warm and up they come, looking for dinner. I know it is disconcerting to think there are sharks in the river water. But there it is, proof written in large.

"Local fishermen set large traps known as pound nets to catch menhaden and other seasonally abundant fish. The sharks follow their prey into these traps, and if they're not rescued within a few hours, they can die there, said Alan Henningsen, a research specialist at the National Aquarium in Baltimore." credit Live Science, Elizabeth Palermo Sept 5, 2015

Below photo, the poles sticking up in front of us are the pound net enclosure the shark was caught in:

Here is a link to an article with pictures:

http://wjla.com/news/local/photos-8-foot-bull-shark-caught-near-coltons-point-in-maryland

We ourselves saw a shark early in our trip, about 5 feet long. And then the trip leader watched a pair of sharks, each 6 foot or longer, swim between James's and Tim's boats.

So yeah, there be sharks. I am much more likely to suffer an accident in my home than to suffer a shark attack, just to put things in perspective.

We will be back in that area in a couple of weeks, probably rolling. Knowing there is an abundance of sharks will not stop us from rolling. Probably.