PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Seals are thriving off the Northeast coast thanks to decades of protections, and that victory for wildlife has brought more human encounters with sharks.
Seals are a favorite prey of large sharks such as the great white. Authorities say the death this week of swimmer Julie Dimperio Holowach, who was killed by a great white off Harpswell, Maine, might have happened because the shark mistook her for a seal.
Swimmers off the New England states have learned to be more mindful of sharks in recent years due to a spate of sightings of great whites.