Cape Cod Towns Get Over $380K To Improve Shark Safety

CAPE COD, MA — The state awarded nearly $400,000 to improve shark safety in outer Cape Cod towns. The $383,000 grant will primarily go toward improving response times in the event of a shark attack.

The six communities – Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans and Chatham – will use the funding to buy stretchers, tourniquets, dune vehicles, call boxes in parking lots and satellite phones for lifeguards, the Boston Globe reported.

The grant comes in the wake of increased shark activity off Cape Cod last summer, including the state's first fatal shark attack since 1936. Arthur Medici, a 26-year-old Revere man, died after he was bitten off Newcomb Hollow Beach in September. A month earlier, 61-year-old William Lytton was seriously injured when he was bitten while swimming off the coast of Truro.

While Lytton survived, he had to undergo six surgeries and needed close to 12 pints of blood.

Officials are also examining more advanced methods of improving shark safety, including sonar buoys, drones and nets. A report by consulting firm Woods Hole Group is expected to come in September, but efforts are already underway to test a high-tech "clever buoy" off Cape Cod.

A GoFundMe campaign named in Medici's honor has raised over $36,000 of its $200,000 goal to fund a clever buoy pilot this summer. According to the Globe, the project would still require approval from local officials, who have said they would like to wait for the final report before launching additional shark-repellent efforts.