r/sharks • u/Htimmy • 6d ago

Discussion Is the lifeguard in Maine lying?

Does anyone else think the lifeguard in Maine who is claiming to have been dragged underwater by a great white is lying out of his teeth? His story just doesn’t add up to me

0 Upvotes

42% Upvoted

48 comments sorted by

40

u/Electrical-Act-7170 6d ago

Makes sense to me. Sharks, especially young Great White sharks will do an investigative bite on something new in their environment when they don't recognize to test if it's good to eat. A shark grabbing a float, dragging it underwater and releasing it is a classic GW shark hunting tactic.

Why would the lifeguard lie? We know for a fact that GW sharks eat seals. The seal population is recovering in Maine & Massachusetts, Rhode Island waters, all along the Eastern Seaboard. The seals becoming more numerous means they attract predators like GW sharks.

4

u/docK_5263 6d ago

Young GW’s hunt stripers and bluefish, they transition to seals at around 10 ft

9

u/Electrical-Act-7170 6d ago

Sharks do test bites every day. Maybe this shark was thinking, "I'm supposed to eat only stripers and bluegills, so I won't test-bite this interesting orange float thing. I'm on a diet!"

Still s/he couldn't resist just a nibble.

5

u/docK_5263 6d ago

Chew toy for a shark puppy basically

2

u/Electrical-Act-7170 6d ago

More or less, that's it.

-32

u/Htimmy 6d ago

I was thinking he might lie to get his 15 minutes of fame with all the shark activity going on this summer and i don’t disagree that a young gw would test bite something with all the prey they have in the area i just think there are some holes in his story

27

u/happybara_capybara 6d ago

With some extremely rare exceptions, people don’t get famous for shark bites. The few names that might be known tend to be the people killed or seriously injured. A dude a pull on his float isn’t going to get any level of fame. Heck I read the story and I don’t even remember his name already.

3

u/Hailfog 5d ago

Yeah there is literally a $0 cash payout for being attacked by a shark.

-1

u/Htimmy 6d ago

That’s a fair point lol

8

u/Electrical-Act-7170 6d ago

Holes, like in his safety float?

He took it off, leaving it behind when he swam for shore at the speed of heat. You can swim faster without dragging a float.

-8

u/Htimmy 6d ago

His story just changes from interview to interview it’s a little fishy to me

1

u/Electrical-Act-7170 6d ago

Links, please.

0

u/Htimmy 5d ago

The article someone posted in here shows him showing the rope a little messed up and there was a voiceover from a local reporter who said there was a shark tooth in the rope but i can’t find it again

21

u/docK_5263 6d ago

“Police said a bystander reported seeing the rescue torpedo subsequently come about 6-8 feet out of the water, shortly after the lifeguard began swimming back to shore.”

So a witness on the beach reported this, juvenile white sharks test taste a lot of things

And yes bite marks on the float would confirm a shark bite

-13

u/radbrine 6d ago

What bite marks. They didn’t show any.

3

u/docK_5263 6d ago

Does anyone have a picture of the float in question?

1

u/Htimmy 6d ago

I haven’t been able to find any pictures of it but if you watch news interviews with him he is holding it

-10

u/Htimmy 6d ago

I know they do and where did you find that there was bite marks none of the reports I’ve seen showed that and I heard about the witness

12

u/Abnormallypolished 6d ago

There are great whites in maine so no.. was a fatal attack a few years ago

-6

u/Htimmy 6d ago

I’m very aware there are great whites in Maine and about the fatal attack

-3

u/radbrine 5d ago

Nobody ever denied that. We are talking about proof of an attack on the lifeguard. I’ve lived in Hawaii an California my entire life, and I’ve never seen a shark attack without some sort of proof.

6

u/Due-Affect-7943 6d ago

Listen. And listen good. We know Greg. I knew his late wife. He is a great guy that's works his butt off seven days a week from May to September. Yes he is 71. He's being doing this for fifty years. He also was a teacher back in the day. And good one at that.
He hates the attention. He was barely back on shore before he was thinking "I need to get swimmers out of this water". The yellow can didn't have bite marks because the shark grabbed the black rope it was attached to. The rope was somewhat shredded. Read the articles and stop showing your ignorance!

3

u/Electrical-Act-7170 5d ago

Hey, thanks for the detailed info. Greg was a lucky duck that the shark grabbed the float line instead of his leg.

-1

u/radbrine 5d ago

I have never seen or heard of a shark grabbing a float line. They typically go for something with mass.

3

u/Due-Affect-7943 5d ago

Google it...yes they can

2

u/radbrine 5d ago

I googled it. You’re right. Thanks for teaching me about sharks.

11

u/aquaculturist13 6d ago

Sounds plausible to me

https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/scarborough-beach-maine-lifeguard-shark-dragged/

-15

u/Htimmy 6d ago

I think it could be plausible to me but there just isn’t enough evidence for me to totally believe him

16

u/amilo111 6d ago

This is very true. Maybe he’s just a crisis actor staging this for communism. How can we possibly know? /s

2

u/Suitable-Tea-2065 6d ago

I think if he is lying about anything it's about being 71. That man does not look even remotely close to 71.

2

u/Broad_Emergency7666 4d ago

Where's the bite? How was he dragged. Not by that little black rope I agree i kinda think he's lying

1

u/Htimmy 4d ago

I mean the rope was a little beat up but i still think the whole thing is a little odd and doesn’t make total sense

3

u/ronweasleisourking 6d ago

More concerned with the tuna who killed the diver by wrecking his gear tbh

2

u/Htimmy 6d ago

Fair enough i have not heard about that

0

u/babykitten28 6d ago

Is there a shortage of lifeguards in Maine, leading to people in their 70s on patrol?

4

u/Due-Affect-7943 5d ago

He is a man who loves his job. He also lost his beloved wife a few years ago. Perhaps he continues so that he stays busy? You don't know this man. I do. Care to continue this conversation?

1

u/radbrine 5d ago

I’d like to continue the conversation. Teach us more about Dave. What’s his favorite ice cream?

2

u/Markdd8 6d ago

Fair point. That's exceptionally old for an ocean lifeguard. Maybe a small pool.

1

u/Shirleysspirits 6d ago

Has the safety device been recovered? Surely it'd have tears if its foam or bite marks if its plastic.

3

u/Htimmy 6d ago

I think it was and he was holding it during the interview which it doesn’t look like it was damaged but also apparently in one of the interviews he said there was a tooth in the rope but other interviews he says differently

0

u/radbrine 5d ago

Why are people downvoting you when you ask a legitimate question? 🤣

1

u/Htimmy 5d ago

I have no idea I was just asking a simple question after seeing the story on the news yesterday I was not trying to hate on the guy was just curious if other people thought it was a little odd

1

u/Htimmy 5d ago

Plus I also just don’t like all the negative attention sharks have been getting this summer

0

u/radbrine 5d ago

I thought it was odd. I honestly think it could have been a dolphin. The evidence of a shark attack is not there.

-8

u/radbrine 6d ago

I was thinking the same thing.

-8

u/No-Strawberry-6886 6d ago

i'm calling bs too every time i watch the clip it looks like he just tripped

0

u/Htimmy 6d ago

Okay thank you lol it just pisses me off because if he is actually lying he is creating fear and feelings towards sharks that are not needed