Monday September 7th

Readers,
When I returned to school, I was excited for the endless amount of things I could accomplish with a four day weekend and two days of class. However, in a sad and unfortunate turn of events (9-5, unpaid internship Mondays and Fridays), my four day weekend became a mere two days (college blasphemy) and the rest of my hours have become consumed with school work, exercise, and, eh, socializing. The obvious negative externality of this now rigorous schedule (and the fact that I stopped bringing my computer to class) is a lack of time to write Daily Routines. But I promise to try my hardest to keep you entertained. So without further ado we will proceed to today's Daily Topic: GREAT WHITES ON CAPE COD



For my West Coast readers who sadly lack knowledge of East Coast geography, Cape Cod is the extension of southeastern Massachusetts that extends into the Atlantic Ocean in a hook shape. And on the southeastern corner of Cape Cod lies my favorite seaside town of Chatham. Besides being home to the world's best salt water taffy, Chatham provides a summer getaway spot for tens of thousands of vacationers.

But Chatham, and its Lighthouse Beach in particular, has had a rough couple of weeks. The last time I saw Lighthouse Beach was on CNN while residents and vacationers alike prepared for a week of squalls with the approach of Hurricane Bill. With rip tides and high surf warnings, lifeguards and beach officials closed the beaches to swimmers.

Now Chatham's beaches are closed again. On Saturday, as many as five great white sharks were spotted within 75 yards of the coast, forcing thousands of Labor Day-weekenders out of the water. Two of the sharks were tagged by marine biologists, as to track their migratory patterns.

Great whites, one of the world's most dangerous and predatory sharks, are rarely sighted off of the New England coast. But as you may know from watching all 168 hours of Shark Week, shark attacks are actually very rare. And while you may hear about them more often than lightning strikes, shark attacks are literally several hundreds or even thousands of times less likely. Massachusetts has tallied only four shark attacks since 1670. A statistic that really only makes you wonder who was recording shark attacks in the 1670s.

Now you may know all of this, but what you don't know was that I was nearly the fifth victim of this Bay State statistic. In the last week of July, while on a short vacation to the Cape, I was enjoying an early morning, high tide, skim and body board session. The waves, a modest 2-4 feet high, had a beautiful righthand break and the beach was peaceful and empty.

Suddenly, a lifeguard ATV came barreling down the beach, stopping in the sand in front of where I was in the water. They blared their siren and waved me in. I paddled in and they informed me that they had spotted a shark by the buoy up the beach, just a bit further out than where I had been, and it had been swimming along the beach towards me. For some inexplicable reason, they told me that until it was confirmed, I could go back out but they just wanted to inform me. I decided that I valued my limbs and stayed on shore.

And while the statistics are low, anyone who has ever seen the Planet Earth about Shallow Seas has to be weary of great whites. Because nothing makes you more scared about a 1 in 11 million chance of being attacked than seeing a sea lion bitten in half and slowed down 64 times. Cue Jaws music.
-ROF

Daily Food: Burritos

Daily Activity: Checking My Swagg

Daily Song: Pursuit of Happiness (Feat. MGMT and Ratatat) - KiD CuDi

Daily Attire: USC Attire

Daily News Everyone Should Care About: Fake Afghan Poll Sites Favored Karzai, Officials Say

Daily News No One Should Care About: NFL's Merriman arrested, accused of choking Tila Tequila

Daily Life Goal: Never Work on Labor Day Again

Daily Complaint: Working on Labor Day

Daily Drink: Jamba Juice

Daily Television: Planet Earth

Daily Movie: Friday Night Lights

Daily Brush With Fame: Partying with the P E Boyz