Maine surfers explain what it’s like to share the ocean with sharks
Danielle West, Portland's city manager, sits on her surfboard while waiting for a wave while surfing at Higgins Beach in Scarborough on Friday. (Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer)
SCARBOROUGH — Danielle West was surfing at Pine Point earlier this week when she saw a seal pop up in the waves. She recalled the thought that crossed her mind at the time.
“Where there’s a seal, there’s usually sharks,” she said.
She was right.
That night, West — who is Portland’s city manager — learned about multiple shark sightings in that area. Those reports didn’t deter her, however, from getting in the water at nearby Higgins Beach in Scarborough on Friday morning.
“I’m more aware,” West said. “I’m watching for seals, watching for fins.”
Maine surfers said shark sightings usually don’t discourage them.
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“We’re definitely conscious of it,” Donavyn Corcoran, manager of Liquid Dreams Surf Shop in Ogunquit, said. “We’re not going to not go in the water.”
Surfers, business owners and instructors offered tips on how to coexist with sharks. Surf in groups, be mindful of murky water, and be aware that sharks are usually more active early in the morning or late in the evening, they said. Watch for seals, stripers and other prey, especially in areas such as river mouths where sharks might find plentiful food.
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Still, they are familiar with the anxiety that spikes when people see videos of sharks like those captured this week near Pine Point Beach in Scarborough.
“Someone who just bought a surfboard will come and return it,” said Andy McDermott, owner of Blackpoint Surf Shop in Scarborough. “We normally get one cancellation, whether it’s a rental or a lesson.”
He points customers to the data. Maine has recorded only one fatal shark attack — a woman swimming off Bailey Island in 2020. The likelihood of being killed by a shark is 1 in 4.3 million, according to the International Shark Attack Files maintained by the Florida Museum of Natural History.
“Most people feel reassured,” McDermott said. “But there are some people that are just afraid of sharks. They’re going to be afraid of sharks no matter what I say.”
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A paddleboarder rides a wave at Higgins Beach in Scarborough on Friday. (Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer)
McDermott is not one of those people. He said he has ridden waves near great whites in California, where unfazed surfers dubbed one regular shark “Fluffy.” Once, he said, a seal jumped on his board there; he didn’t realize until later that it was likely seeking refuge from a predator. McDermott has encountered sharks while diving in Maine, and said they simply swim away.
“They’re just fish,” he said.
Dustin Turin owns Surf Camp Maine and spends the whole summer teaching kids and adults how to ride at Scarborough Beach. He said he works closely with the staff at the beach and always surveils the water before entering with his group. He’s never seen a shark there, he said, but stays vigilant.
“There’s a saying,” he quipped. “If you taste the water and it’s salty, there’s sharks in the water.”
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More sharks spotted at Pine Point Beach in Scarborough
The sharks near Pine Point this week weren’t close enough to warrant a pause in lessons, he said. Turin offers tips to his students that apply in many situations, including shark sightings.
“Always try and go with a friend,” he said. “The biggest risk for any surfer is not a shark. It’s getting hit by your board. It’s breaking a leash and losing your board and getting stuck outside in big surf.”
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Eric Belanger, owner of Aquaholics Surf Shop in Kennebunk, was surfing in Ogunquit a couple of years ago when his friends spotted a shark. He said they all stayed calm and paddled back to shore.
“You don’t want to splash around too much,” Belanger said.
Andrew Duncan and his wife, Lindsey Duncan, of New Bedford, Mass., carry their surfboards into the water at Higgins Beach in Scarborough on Friday. (Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer)
Lindsey Duncan, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, planned a vacation with her husband in Maine well before the reports of shark sightings.
“I don’t love it, I’m not gonna lie,” she said.
Still, she and her husband booked some rare time away from their two kids at home. They just started surfing, Duncan said, and didn’t want to abandon their plans to ride some waves on their trip.
They joined the dozen or so people on their boards at Higgins Beach on Friday, and the presence of other surfers made her feel more comfortable.
“We’re just going to be cautious,” she said. “We’re not going to go out very far.”
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Tagged: higgins beach, maine beaches, Scarborough, shark
Megan Gray covers the outdoors and tourism at the Portland Press Herald. A Midwest native, she moved to Maine in 2016. She has written about presidential politics and local government, jury trials and. More by Megan Gray
Gregory got his start in journalism delivering his hometown newspaper, the Norwich Bulletin, as a teenager, reading the front page articles on dark winter mornings as he passed under streetlights. Greg. More by Gregory Rec
