Dennis Shark scare fills rooms, creates traffic jams

23-foot long Great White Shark seem in Bass River

Great White Shark photographed today from the Dennis side of Bass River. Photo courtesy of the Dennis Chamber of Commerce.

irst came the news of half-eaten seals found on southside beaches in the two mid Cape towns of Dennis and Yarmouth. Then came the reports, the first from a highly-placed Yarmouth chamber official, that a twenty-three-foot long Great White Shark was seem and later photographed swimming up Bass River towards Kelleys Bay and Follins Pond north of the Route 6 Mid Cape Highway.

"I could tell the shark was over twenty feet long by holding its image against the head of a Dennis chamber official's C.V. who was standing opposite me on the eastern side of the river," said Bob DeWood, a Yarmouth tourism official.

Shark Boom fills every room in Dennis, Visitors fleeing Chatham


The Dennis Chamber of Commerce reported that as soon as the first reports appeared in the Boston and New York media this morning the phone (they only have the one) at their office rang off the hook. Said Eilane Kostamitro the commerce's harried director, "There were only three motel room left available in Dennis by 1 PM today, and we began sending our callers to the Chatham chamber where apparently many visitors were leaving to see the dead seals on our beaches".

Mitt Spyros, the local Dennis corespondent and political writer for CapeCodTODAY, said, :"We haven't seen this big a boost in tourism since the rumors that Tony Costa buried a few of his victims on the banks of Swan River back in '64."

Dead seals buried on Dennis beach

The throngs checking out of Chatham's lodging were all headed for the southside beaches in Dennis where the two harbor seals killed so far were being buried by a backhoe today. Several listen commercial fishermen were heard to mutter, "Where can we get more of them sharks?"