In both cases, the people were traumatized but unharmed.įor the past decade, the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) has been studying the migration of great white sharks to the region. In 2017, a shark bit into a paddleboard off Marconi Beach in Wellfleet. In 2014, for instance, a great white attacked a pair of female kayakers off Plymouth, biting into one of their boats and knocking both women into the water. Lytton’s was far from the first close encounter between human and shark off the coast of Cape Cod in recent years. The resurgence of great white sharks is forcing communities to wrestle with how these wild creatures could change the Cape forever. Surprisingly, Medici and Rocha never heard about the attack, unaware of the danger below. Lytton’s story of survival made national news, including mention of the increasing number of great white sightings off the Cape in recent years. A helicopter soon airlifted him to Tufts Medical Center in Boston, where he lay in a coma for two days while surgeons performed half a dozen operations and pumped 12 pints of blood into his body-saving his life. Instinctively, Lytton fought back, striking the predator in the gills and then writhing free. He shrieked in pain as dozens of razor-sharp teeth tore through the tendons in his thigh. Several weeks earlier, a 61-year-old neurologist from Scarsdale, New York, named William Lytton was swimming 10 feet off the coast of nearby Truro when he felt a great white shark chomp down on his leg. Neither Medici nor Rocha, however, knew what lurked beneath the surface of the ocean. “This is the life I want to live,” Medici sighed. “That was the best of my life,” Medici said, as once again the two friends sat on their boards a few yards apart and took in the sounds of waves tumbling to shore. Exhilarated, he paddled back toward Rocha. Then he angled his board toward the beach and caught the shoulder of the wave at a steep incline and rode it all the way to shore before disappearing in the crashing foam. Staring out at the horizon, he saw a swell of ocean rise to form a perfect wave and began paddling to its peak. It didn’t take long for Medici to catch the wave of his dreams. As soon as they set up their beach umbrellas, Medici skipped toward the water like a child, kicking up sand as he bounded into the surf. The next morning, Medici and Rocha woke up early, ate a light breakfast, and headed back to Newcomb Hollow. Catch the big one.” They surfed until nightfall, floating in the ocean and watching the sun, with its orange and pink hues, dip below the steep cliffs behind the beach. “The waves run in patterns two small waves followed by a bigger one. “You need to understand the rhythm of the ocean,” Medici instructed. Rocha was still a beginner, but he had a patient teacher he watched as Medici showed him where to place his hands in order to balance himself. Today, the conditions were ideal, and they were excited to be back.Īs soon as his boogie board touched the water, Medici put on a show for his young friend, performing flips and 360-degree spins. Still, they liked Newcomb Hollow because it was relatively deserted, except for the occasional member of the close-knit surfing community, who had welcomed them with a smile. They had visited the site once before, but the conditions had been too choppy for a day of wave riding. After checking in, they grabbed their gear and headed for nearby Newcomb Hollow Beach. The sun had just started to set when they pulled into a motel along Route 6A in Wellfleet. Medici had recently asked Rocha’s sister, Emily, to marry him, and Rocha was thrilled his friend would soon become family. Stuck in bumper-to-bumper Friday-afternoon traffic, they searched for Jack Johnson songs on the radio and caught up on the week, chatting about work, school, and life.
Moments later, the two friends climbed into Medici’s black Nissan Altima and began the long trek to the outer edge of Cape Cod. Just as he was gathering his board, wetsuit, and a fresh set of clothes, he heard a knock on the front door. When the final school bell rang, releasing students like a pack of greyhounds at the track, Rocha hopped onto his motorcycle and raced home. The message came from Arthur Medici, a 26-year-old college student from Brazil who attended Rocha’s church and had known him for years. Go home and grab your stuff and be ready because I’m coming to your house.” All the Ideas for Preventing Shark Attack Deaths on Cape Cod.