Plotting a great escape for trapped shark

FALMOUTH -- The great white shark swimming off Cape Cod is trapped in a shallow island lagoon, said state fisheries officials, who plan to mount an elaborate effort with nets and electronic shark repellents at dawn today to free the 1,700-pound carnivore.

In the nine days since the shark was spotted, it has become a tourist attraction, bringing an almost circus-like atmosphere to Falmouth. In Woods Hole, the stretch of mainland closest to the shark's Naushon Island lagoon, talk is of little but how to best get the shark to open sea. Media outlets from Japan to Comedy Central's ''The Daily Show" have called state marine officials, as have a steady stream of concerned residents, some with bizarre suggestions.

One woman asked for a chance to swim with the shark, telling officials that if the shark was sick or injured she could heal it. Another wanted to talk it out of the lagoon. A video clip of the shark, which is a female, prompted one resident to declare it pregnant. (It is not.)

Meanwhile, a budding tour-boat trade to ogle the shark, at $25 a person, was more or less shut down yesterday, as state officials closed off a large swath of sea around Naushon Island to ensure that no one blocks its escape route.

''It's been pretty crazy," said Mike Botelho, who operates the Eel River drawbridge in Woods Hole. ''We just want the poor thing to get out."

Scientists tracking the shark said its dorsal fin has begun to list, the first sign of stress and fatigue after circling the inlet for more than a week. Scientists have tried for days to lure or prod it out of the 60-yard wide area, but the animal apparently is hesitant to cross a shallow sand bar at the inlet's main entrance.

So early today, scientists and fishermen will attempt an elaborate rescue maneuver. Cape Cod weir fishermen, who use staked fishing nets to catch squid and mackerel, will string fine mesh across half the inlet. Then state shark experts will lay a pair of 12-foot-long cables that emit an electronic signal to repel the shark. The cables, used by divers who work near sharks, were flown in yesterday morning from South Africa.

The setup drew analogies to the fisherman turned shark-hunter in the movie ''Jaws," filmed a few miles away on Martha's Vineyard. Unlike the plot of the film, in which the object was to kill the beast, today's plan is to encourage the animal to swim away uninjured.

''It is time for the shark to leave," said David M. Peters, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game, which is overseeing the rescue. Specialists from as far away as Australia have weighed in about what to do with the shark. ''We cannot walk away from the shark . . . because we feel we will be putting some people at risk."

While state officials declined to name the weir fishermen, they said the men had experience in catching large marine animals in their nets and then freeing them. A weir, an ancient fishing technique used by Native Americans, is a stationary net leading fish into a series of round enclosures. Today the fishermen will only use a piece of a weir, the fine mesh that leads them into the enclosure, to gently guide the shark out.

If the shark doesn't leave after the first net is strung across the inlet, the group will set nets closer and closer to the inlet's entrance during high tide, so the shark can safely escape, stringing each in 90 seconds. Division of Marine Fisheries officials said this is the least invasive way they can think of to get the shark to swim free of the inlet. If today's attempt doesn't work, they will keep trying tomorrow and then will have to consider more invasive techniques that could include tranquilizing the shark.

The shark's presence even prompted Peter Benchley, author of ''Jaws," to speak out. In Boston yesterday to open a Boston University exhibit about his writing career, Benchley made an appearance at the New England Aquarium.

Although he said he was concerned about the shark's health, he said the large number of people interested in the animal encouraged him. ''It's wonderful the animal is being studied and being seen and being appreciated by a lot of people," said Benchley, who works on shark conservation. ''You can see by the . . . crowds how many people want to see these animals and how interested they are."

Globe correspondent Elise Castelli contributed to this report. Beth Daley can be reached by email at bdaley@globe.com.