Around New England

Sharks, 1, New Lifeguards, 0 on Cape Cod

June 21, 2019

Fear of sharks has led Cape Cod National Seashore officials to curtail a lifeguard training program for about 16 teen-agers ages 13 to 17 off Outer Cape beaches this summer.

Federal officials also cited what they described as inadequate staffing as a reason not to offer the program, according to The Cape Cod Times.

The teen-agers, most of whom are locals, participate in long-distances swims and fitness routines and learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation, first aid, and rescue techniques during the three-mornings-a-week classes from the first week of July to the first week of August, according to the Cape Cod Times.

A great white shark attacked and killed a man off a beach in Wellfleet on September 15, 2018. Another one seriously injured a man off Truro a month before, on August 15, 2018.

Some say the national seashore’s announcement is an overreaction.

“In effect, the message you are sending is that kids shouldn’t be swimming off Cape Cod,” said the president of the Americas region of the International Life Saving Federation, according to the Cape Cod Times.