Oak Island mayor on USA Today editorial: ‘Clearing the water is the key’

OAK ISLAND, NC (WWAY) — The mayor of Oak Island is responding to an editorial in USA Today about the shark attacks Sunday.

The editorial compares the two shark attacks that happened in the Brunswick County town to what happened in the movie “Jaws.” In the film, which opened 40 years ago this weekend, the mayor, worried that scaring tourists will cripple the town, fights to keep the beaches open.

USA Today’s editorial board said that might have been part of the motivation behind the decision not to close the beach on Oak Island.

“To us, it makes sense to err on the side of caution,” the board writes.

Its opinion is based on a shark expert quoted in the piece who said, “It would have been ‘prudent’ to close the Oak Island beaches for a day or two.”

Oak Island Mayor Betty Wallace wrote a companion response for the newspaper saying first that she as the mayor does not have the authority to close any areas of the town, and that is not easy to shut down a beach that has hundreds of homes and up to 40,000 visitors in the summer.

“I believe it is pretty much physically impossible to ‘close’ even a mile or so of our beachfront,” Wallace wrote in her respons. “I have stated several times that ‘closing the beach’ to avoid a shark bite is an oxymoron in Oak Island. Clearing the water is the key, and is accomplished much more easily.”

Wallace went on to say she hopes the investigation into the shark bites Sunday will help increase awareness and reduce the chances of future bites and attacks.