Aboard Leilani, 5:55 Tuesday morning. She and the other sailboats are wrapped in pink gauze, the light fog lifting along with the sun. Coffee. Snapper bluefish break the surface chasing their breakfast, leaving rings that expand on the mirror that is Lake Montauk. A day opening.

Readers of this column may remember my wondering at the strange sounds in the night aboard Leilani, a staccato chatter, like frogs ululating, was the way I put it. The sound seemed to be coming through the hull, starboard side, then port. It seemed to be coming from all around the boat, from near and far. When I ventured topside to see if a passing raft of weird ducks was responsible I found only stars and quiet, while below deck, “they” continued their percussive chatter. 

After a few days, I surrendered my “singing fish,” as my wife called my obsession, to a boat’s generator I heard one morning in the distance. It had a similar rhythm. But, no, the generator theory doesn’t hold water. For the last few nights the submarine cicadas have begun their chanting just after dark. They commune through the night, and hush again at dawn, a chorus whose voices vibrate through Leilani’s hull, a mystery in the night to accompany the lake’s flashes of phosphorescence. I think they’re shrimp.

There are creatures called snapping shrimp. They snap a specialized claw shut to create a “cavitation bubble” that generates big-time acoustic pressures. As it extends out from the claw, the bubble reaches speeds of 60 miles per hour, and the sound reaches 218 decibels.

The pressure is strong enough to kill small fish. And something’s feeding larger fish in the lake. Maybe they’re eating snapping shrimp. Folks can’t remember when fluke made such an appearance in Montauk Harbor.

We were sailing out through the inlet last week on a brisk southwest wind. Inspired by Paul Forsberg on his Viking Freedom, I like to troll under sail, and so I had the line out with a silver lure and feather combination. Halfway through the inlet, the rod bent. Normally, I would slow Leilani by turning into the wind, but this was not possible in the inlet, so I eased the drag and hoped the fish stayed hooked. It did, a nice 22-inch fluke. Dinner.

I mentioned the Viking Freedom. If you find yourself in Montauk and like boats, drop by the Viking Dock and take a gander at Freedom.

I like to call Paul Forsberg Sr. the admiral of the Viking Fleet. He’s closing in on 75, the son of a fisherman, and a father to fishermen who continue to run the Forsberg family’s small empire of party boats, and of course the Block Island Ferry. He did not start out as a sailor, but when Rob Rosen, a fellow Montauker, sailed the schooner Appledore to Tortola back in the ’80s, Paul went along. It was that experience, plus, he admitted, the TV show “Adventures in Paradise” — in which the actor Gardiner McKay skippered a three-masted schooner somewhere in the South Pacific — that inspired him to build a steel-hulled sailboat from scratch.

The hull was welded together right here in Montauk with the help of Stuart Vorpahl, a bayman from East Hampton who earned his welding chops in the Coast Guard. 

“Rob Rosen was building a boat in St. Petersburg, and there was a marine architect there. He showed me the kind of rig I should have. She’s well balanced. When I built her, I wanted to sail and fish around the world,” Forsberg said on Monday.

That didn’t happen, not yet, although over the years he’s sailed and fished Freedom from Canada to Trinidad, and into the Gulf of Mexico after tuna, swordfish, and any other species he comes across. On the way up from Florida this summer he stopped in Cape Canaveral to pick up Paul Jr. They caught and sold 4,000 pounds of mahi­mahi during a three-day trip. 

Freedom set sail again bound for Montauk, catching tuna along the way, and sold to Gosman’s Dock. On Sunday he returned to the Viking dock from a four-day trip offshore. In Freedom’s hold, “12 head of big-eye, and 8 head of yellowfin.” Forsberg sails and fishes with a crew of two, although he has single-handed Freedom on occasion, including a passage from St. Maarten to Trinidad.

Freedom is ketch-rigged. She trolls for tuna using a long pole known as a green stick, under sail, with the mizzensail set, one of her two headsails, and “the fisherman sail,” a small staysail amidships. When there’s a fish on, he turns Freedom into the wind if there’s not too much of it. Freedom’s 150-horsepower engine is usually running, he said, but kept at idle under sail. Freedom has a hull speed of between six and seven knots whether powered by wind or its iron equivalent.

“She loves to sail,” Forsberg said. “I’d like to die on that boat,” he said, laughing his hearty baritone. 

Meanwhile, off Devon on Monday, Harvey Bennett of the Tackle Shop in Amagansett espied a school of false albacore “moving fast to the north. I had one hooked but lost it.”

A vote on a law that would subject chain stores to additional scrutiny by the East Hampton Town Planning Board is to take place in the coming weeks.

The law would require that “formula stores” that have 15 or more shops or restaurants in the United States obtain a special permit from the planning board.

The East Hampton Town Board held a hearing on the formula store proposal on July 17, and a number of people made comments about the proposal during the open portion of a board work session on Tuesday.

Many asserted that the law would have a negative impact on business owners and commercial landlords, while others said that protection against homogenous development is key to protecting East Hampton’s unique community character.

In response to comments at the hearing, a change was made to the proposed legislation to allow more than one formula business at a commercial complex designated a “multi-business complex” under the zoning code. Under the amended proposal, up to half of the businesses in a commercial complex could be chain stores.

With that change, Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc said that he supports the law, as does Councilwoman Sylvia Overby, its proponent. Councilman Fred Overton said he could not support it. “Quite frankly, I don’t think there was overwhelming public support,” he said. Instead, there were many concerns voiced by business owners.

“I just don’t know if this strikes the right balance,” said Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez. She supports a law to address the concerns raised by the possible influx of chain stores, but said “I’m not looking to put additional burdens on the business community.” She asked if the goals could be achieved “more with a scalpel, with more specificity.”

Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said that the “uniqueness that we all love about East Hampton” is an “asset . . . it’s one of the basic reasons why this community is popular. I think the additional review to prevent cookie-cutter development is necessary, and I support it.” 

An 8-year-old boy was bitten by a dog at Indian Wells Beach in Amagansett on Sunday during a Junior Lifeguard tournament there. According to lifeguards and East Hampton Town police, the dog’s owner then fled, with the animal in tow.

Chase Siska of East Hampton was playing near the lifeguard stand while his older brother was taking part in the tournament when it happened, his mother, Dr. Lara Siska, said yesterday. The boy told her he was petting a small brown curly-haired dog that was not leashed when the dog bit him on the ankle.

Capt. Chris Anderson of the town police said an incident report indicated that a man — described only as a big man with glasses — had scooped up the dog and left the beach. East Hampton Parks Department employees at the beach looked for him to no avail.

Dogs are allowed within 500feet of the lifeguard stand during the summer months before 10 a.m. and after 6 p.m., and must be leashed.

Dr. Siska said the bite was not too bad, but it broke the skin, prompting a visit to Southampton Hospital’s emergency room, where Chase received a painful rabies shot to be followed over the next 14 days by a series of rabies vaccinations. While most dogs that are pets have been vaccinated for rabies, the shot was given as a precaution, since there was no information about the dog.

“I don’t think there’s been a case of rabies in Suffolk County for a long time . . . unfortunately, human rabies is fatal,” Dr. Siska said. “It was a bad decision to have to make . . . If they had just stayed so we could have gotten the information about the dog’s vaccination history, we wouldn’t have to go through all this.”

Chase Siska is a grandson of East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell, Dr. Siska’s father.

In the wake of Patricia Hope’s surprise resignation one month ago, the East Hampton School Board’s decision about how to fill the vacancy has remained up in the air.

The remaining six members of the board could call a special election or the district superintendent could appoint someone. On Tuesday night, at the first public meeting of the board since the resignation, the board still seemed to be mulling the options. The consensus was unclear.

However, as the scheduled public meeting was about to begin, it was learned that the board had already met for 90 minutes in a closed-door, or executive, session. Since the law requires boards to vote to go into executive session during a public meeting and to announce the reason for doing so, the closed-door session was apparently illegal.

“This is the first time the board has convened,” Richard Burns, the district superintendent, said. “We’re exploring our options, but as of right now, we think we are going to stay as we are, but continue to explore our options,” he said.

“The board has been functioning very well,” Richard Wilson, a board member, said. However, J.P. Foster, who had been chosen to replace Ms. Hope as president of the board, said, “At this time, we have to take it slow. We will stay at six.” According to the state education law, nothing can be decided during executive session.

Time is apparently of the essence. According to Section 2113 of New York State Education Law, such a vacancy must be filled by an election within 90 days, with legal notice 45 days before the election. During that time a district superintendent can appoint a “competent person” to fill the vacancy, but should the vacancy remain, the state commissioner of education can order a special election to be held.

Should the East Hampton board ultimately decide that someone should be appointed, all interviews must be conducted in public. In that case, the newmember of the board would serve until next May’s election. If, however, a special election were convened, the person would serve out the remainder of Ms. Hope’s term, which expires in June of 2017.

Midway through the East Hampton meeting, Kerri Stevens, the district clerk, reported on the costs of a special election. Voting in May cost the district $11,892. Though she estimated that district officials could shave $1,000 off the price tag, “We’re still looking at over $10,000 to hold a special election.” In a follow-up email yesterday, Ms. Stevens further explained that districts must advertise elections in two newspapers, each with paid subscribers. For the May vote, notices in Newsday cost $5,712; in The East Hampton Star, the cost was $621. In addition, Board of Election costs (machines, custodian, telephone service, and delivery) totaled $1,191. Four election inspectors totaled $403, with printing costs $3,587. Lunch and dinner for volunteer election staff totaled $377.

In recent weeks, the Sag Harbor School District has faced a similar scenario, after Daniel Hartnett, a board member, resigned because he had moved to Springs. All board members are required to live in the district they serve. To fill his seat, the Sag Harbor board decided to appoint a new member rather than hold a special election, whose costs were recently estimated at $3,000. Monday is the deadline for anyone interested in being appointed to submit a letters of interest. The board hopes to announce a new candidate at its next meeting, on Aug. 18.

Mary Anne Miller, whose second three-year term on the Sag Harbor School Board ended in June, had decided not to seek re-election. However, in recent weeks, she has pressed for a special election. “I don’t think the board should decide who they should be working with,” Ms. Miller said earlier this week. “The board has the final say on everything. Why should they pick the board members, too?”

Earlier in the East Hampton meeting on Tuesday, the board accepted the resignation of Keri DeLalio, a special education teacher, effective July 29. The board also appointed Joseph Lipani to the position of head school bus driver at an annual salary of $60,000. He will also continue in the position of auto mechanic III at an annual salary of $70,000.

During public comments, Mary Ella Moeller, an East Hampton resident, balked at his $130,000 salary. Mr. Burns said the two responsibilities had formerly cost the district upward of $180,000, so that Mr. Lipani would save the district around $50,000 by assuming the joint roles. “It worked this past year, and it was successful,” Mr. Burns concluded.

In other news, Ana Nunez will continue as neighborhood aide, serving as a liaison between the district and Spanish-speaking families. She will be paid an annual salary of $47,987. Last year, by contrast, she was paid nearly $24,000 for a position limited to 30 hours each week. Mr. Burns said that a federal Title II grant will cover half her salary, with the hours increased to full time.

In faculty news, Catherine Helfand was appointed to a part-time, non-tenured math position at an annual salary of $55,219. Ryan Mahoney was appointed to a secondary social studies tenured position at $63,283. Due to budget cuts, the board has reduced Richard Klein’s schedule as a science teacher, and he will be paid $71,790.

Further, Dawn Diamond, an art teacher, will resume full-time teaching duties at an annual salary of $94,381. Janine Lalia will also resume her full-time position as a family and consumer science teacher at an annual salary of $80,503. In addition, Diane Curtin received tenure in elementary education.

Lastly, the board approved the pre-kindergarten agreement between the district and the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center, which will cost $335,000 in the coming school year.

Before adjourning the meeting, Jackie Lowey, a board member, briefly addressed what she called the affordable housing crisis and the recent plea by the Wainscott School Board that a proposed affordable project be built elsewhere. Ms. Lowey said what had occurred made a perfect case for shared services between adjoining districts. She asked that the district set up a meeting about housing with the East Hampton Town Board. “The burden is now falling on the shoulders of school districts instead of a shared responsibility between schools and the town,” she said.

The board will next meet on Aug. 26 to address reorganization issues before the start of the school year.

The future of the Springs General Store is unclear, but one thing is likely: After May of next year, Kristi Hood, who has been running the store for years, will not be there.

Due to a looming rent increase, Ms. Hood will be leaving the store, and her apartment above it, when her current lease expires, she confirmed recently.

Although Mike and Jan Collins, the Springs couple that own the property, have been “very, very kind,” and worked with her to adjust their financial arrangements, giving Ms. Hood some extra time, the economics will no longer work, Ms. Hood said, and she is “working on the premise” that her time at the store will soon be up.

With the costs associated, “it’s not realistic as a year-round business,” she said. “It’s been wonderful for me. . . . It’s allowed me to be part of the community even though I’m not from here. It’s been fun making the store what I thought it should be. It’s become a beautiful place.”

The property is a gathering spot for both year-round residents and summer visitors. It maintains the feel of its historical place in the community, with the interior little changed and the porch a place to sit and chat, or on Sunday afternoons listen to informal music jams.

It was built in 1844 in the Greek Revival style, with stone and shingles transported by Phineus Edwards from Connecticut. David Dimon Parsons owned the store, and lived there. It housed a post office from 1849 to 1925.

During the Civil War, it was reportedly the place to go to get the news, and when Dan Miller owned the store for several decades beginning in the 1940s, the Abstract Expressionist painter Jackson Pollock used to stop in, once exchanging one of his paintings for groceries. The piece now hangs at a museum in Paris.

Overlooking Accabonac Creek and Pussy’s Pond across the street, the property is in the Springs Historic District. Its exterior is thus protected from significant change, but its interior, which maintains the layout and feel of the old-time store, is not.

East Hampton Town’s community preservation fund committee, which makes recommendations to the town board on what could be done using a real estate tax dedicated to open space and historic preservation, has reportedly beendiscussing the general store property.

One thing that could take place, said Robert Hefner, a historic consultant for the town, is the purchase of an easement that would protect not only the building’s exterior but its inside. The town has used that technique to protect several other historic structures, he said.

Ms. Collins said last week that the future use of the property is “undecided,” now that Ms. Hood is set to leave. “But it will stay a general store,” she said, referring further questions to her husband. The couple has an adult son, and hope the site, which was previously owned by other members of Mr. Collins’s family, will continue to provide income for him. Mr. Collins did not return a call for comment.

A Sag Harbor man was arraigned in East Hampton Town Justice Court last Thursday on charges stemming from an April 16 crash on Route 114 that sent two men to the hospital. According to statements made by those involved, violent road rage between two men led to the incident, with each man pointing the finger at the other as the aggressor.

A third man, one of those hospitalized, just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, as one of the combatants’ cars veered into oncoming traffic, leading to a head-on collision.

Nicholas S. Spoerl, 57, with Edward Burke Jr., an attorney, at his side, entered not-guilty pleas to the misdemeanor charges of reckless endangerment and reckless driving.

At about noon on the day of the crash, Mr. Spoerl was driving a 2002 Subaru Forrester north on Route 114, with Thomas J. McCabe, 79, of Montauk, in a 2008 Ford Explorer, trailing behind him. The road was particularly busy that day, with a long line of cars headed to Sag Harbor. According to Mr. McCabe, Mr. Spoerl had cut him off on Stephen Hand’s Path, and again when the two cars turned onto Route 114.

According to Mr. Spoerl, Mr. McCabe was tailgating him, just “inches” from his rear bumper. Mr. McCabe told police he was “three car lengths” behind. At the scene, about 1,000 feet north of Hardscrabble Court, an officer quoted Mr. Spoerl as saying, “I jammed on my brakes, he was riding up my ass.”

Both men agreed that Mr. McCabe then swung the Explorer onto the shoulder of the narrow road. Mr. McCabe said he moved onto the shoulder to avoid crashing into the Subaru, and intending to pass it.

At that point the two cars, now moving parallel up 114, began slamming into each other. “He hit my car, so I hit him back. That caused me to go into the other lane,” Mr. Spoerl told police at the scene.

Southbound in “the other lane” was Steven S. Setek, 57, of Wading River, who was on a service call in a 2008 Chevrolet utility truck for his employer, Blue Tides Irrigation. Mr. Setek described to police the moments leading up to the crash. “It reminded me of Nascar,” he said of the tightly bunched northbound traffic, “as if they were all drafting one another. All of a sudden I heard a pop, and a car crashed into me.”

“Airbags went off,” Mr. Setek said. “I smelled fumes, and there was a generator in the truck. I was afraid the truck was going to explode. I tried to get the driver’s-side door open. It wouldn’t open.”

His seatbelt was damaged, and would not release. Neither would the passenger door. Trapped, and facing the real possibility of the truck exploding, Mr. Setek managed to slither under the seatbelt and pull himself through the open window on the driver’s side. Once he was on the asphalt, he lost consciousness.

The East Hampton Fire Department’s heavy rescue squad extracted Mr. Spoerl from the crushed Subaru. According to the accident report, Mr. Spoerl suffered a fractured or dislocated upper leg. He told police later that he had never lost consciousness.

“I came to,” Mr. Setek stated to police a few weeks later, “and I was cold, and the left side of my body was numb. My back hurt. I have pain throughout my body, but no broken bones.”

Both Mr. Spoerl and Mr. Setek were airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital.

Mr. McCabe, meanwhile, had managed to pass the Subaru. Looking back into his rearview mirror, expecting to see it, he saw nothing. Concerned that the car had collided with a tree, he told police, he made a U-turn and waited at the scene of the accident for help to arrive.

Police completed their investigation and obtained a warrant for Mr. Spoerl from East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky on July 6. Mr. Spoerl turned himself in on July 30, and was released without bail by Justice Lisa Rana after his arraignment last Thursday. He is to return to court on Sept. 11.

For New Yorkers accustomed to tightly regulated yellow taxis, hailing a cab on the South Fork, where a 25-minute late-night trip could set one back upwards of $100, can come as a shock.

On weekends during the summer season, 20-somethings swarm the sidewalks and streets in Montauk. The area between the Point Bar and Grill and the Memory Motel is particularly crowded, with partygoers spilling out of the bars and into the streets, attempting to hail anything that resembles the beat-up minivans that so many cabbies drive.

Taxis rides from Montauk to East Hampton typically cost $100 or more. Many taxi drivers come from out of town, seeking a profitable night’s income they have no hope of realizing elsewhere. Reports are on the increase about drivers sleeping in cabs, apparently intending to stick around for the weekend and depart for points west on Monday morning with hundreds of dollars in cash in their pockets.

For context, a taxi from Battery Park to Washington Heights in Manhattan, which is a 14-mile trip and the same distance as Montauk to East Hampton, might cost $40, depending on traffic. Taxis in New York City do not charge per person, and rates are strictly controlled by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission.

After complaints from citizens and local cab companies, the East Hampton Town Board recently passed a law that begins to regulate taxicabs and drivers. East Hampton Town’s resident cab owners are upset by what they see as unfair competition that out-of-town drivers with no real base here present. Residents at a recent Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee meeting expressed concerns about safety and cost, saying that some drivers were reckless on the road and that taxis did not post prices.

The new law, which was passed on May 15, requires all cab drivers to be fingerprinted and undergo a background check before they can be issued a taxi license. The law also details how vehicles must be maintained and requires that drivers keep records of all trips. The rates, which vary widely, are still unregulated. A new county taxi commission came into being in June, but so far its purview has not included tamping down on predatory pricing like that seen on the South Fork.

In Montauk, companies commonly charge per person, with the End Cab, Exclusive Taxi, O’Neal’s Taxi, and Bill’s Taxi all charging $20 per person from Montauk to East Hampton. In an informal survey, $20 per person was the rate given for a group of five or more at around 2 a.m., making the total anywhere between $100 and $140.

However, during a different informal survey, when drivers were asked how much a three-person ride would cost, they replied in terms of fixed rates, instead of per person.

For instance, the driver of a K’s Taxi, when asked how much a ride from Montauk to East Hampton Village would be for three people, said $80. He quickly followed with, “But it’s usually more, $100 or $200 because this is a large vehicle.” A driver of a Montauk Transportation Taxi initially quoted $75, then asked for more money.

A John’s Transportation driver refused to give a quote and was uninterested in taking three people as fares. Instead, he walked over to a larger group of people looking to go to East Hampton and asked them if they needed a ride. Both drivers and passengers benefit from riding in large groups — the driver is guaranteed around $100, even without a tip, but the passengers pay less per person than they would alone.

Some local cab companies charge lower rates. Both Lindy’s Taxi and Pink Tuna Taxi charge $60 for a ride from Montauk to East Hampton, no matter what time of night. There is an additional charge per person, but it’s between $4 and $6. East End Taxi charges as little as $50, with a $5 surcharge per additional person.

In July two arguments between passengers and cab drivers became violent. A driver charged $50 to go from the Memory Motel to Lee Court and then to Gilbert Road, all in Montauk, but the passenger, Kempton John Coady, only had $40. Mr. Coady ended up with a black eye and split lip as a result of the fight.

Earlier in the month, Mark A. Rip?olone, the owner of Ditch Plains Taxi, allegedly used a stun gun on a potential passenger, John Bolaris. Mr. Ripolone apparently opted to drive a larger group of four, instead of Mr. Bolaris and his fiancée, despite the fact that the couple had allegedly approached him first. Mr. Ripolone was arrested, and his case is pending.

Two Montauk homeowners have been charged with violations of the East Hampton Town Code related to tenant turnover in the houses they rent, which officials acknowledge is a growing problem throughout the town.  

Louis Scagnlli, the owner of 20 Foxboro Road, is accused of "renting out his house to a rotating cast of tenants over successive weekends," according to a press release from the town's Code Enforcement Department. Complaints from nearby residents have been lodged, citing new tenants and excessive vehicles and noise on weekends, the release said. More charges are expected.

John Templeman, a Manhattan attorney and owner of 5 South Federal Street, had advertised his house on several Internet sites, including Airbnb, for fees that ranged from $900 per night to $1,600, with an additional $50 for each guest over 10. The activities at Mr. Templeman's house, which were previously reported in The Star, prompted a longtime resident of the hamlet to create a Facebook page, Montauk Rental Madness.

Mr. Templeman was also charged with pumping pool water into the street. A town official said he also is under investigation with regard to building code violations, such as changing the house's use and converting rooms to bedrooms that exceed the Suffolk County Department of Health Services regulations.

Both men were given appearance tickets and will have to answer the charges in East Hampton Town Justice Court later this month.

"Excessive turnover has been the focus of many of our online complaints and is being vigorously investigated to provide for the quality of life expected in our town," said David Betts, the director of public safety. On Thursday, Mr. Betts said the activities at the two houses were among the most egregious violations of the provisions of the code covering rentals. Regarding Mr. Scagnelli, he said, "I think that when somebody continues to violate the code five and six and seven and eight times - that might be one of the more significant ones."

"Both are absentee people so there's little on-site oversight, if you will, which is always unsettling," he said.

Investigation into the activities at both houses began two months ago, after the town learned what was occurring through its an online complaint form, a new tool, launched in late May. The form has been effective in gathering the evidence needed to take code-breakers to court, Betsy Bambrick, the head of the enforcement department, told the town board just this week. 

Mr. Betts said that such investigations take time because homeowners would only be breaking the law if they rented out a house for less than two weeks a third time in a six-month period.

The shark that was found at an Amagansett ocean beach on Tuesday evening has been officially identified as a great white. It was dissected on Thursday afternoon by the National Marine Fisheries Service with assistance from Stony Brook University faculty, students, and staff at the Southampton Marine Station.

As for why the shark washed ashore, “There was no obvious physical evidence of severe trauma or disease,” said Demian Chapman, a professor at the Stony Brook School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, “but it is important to understand that scientists are rarely able to determine the cause of death of white shark carcasses given our limited knowledge of the species."

The main purpose of the dissection, he said, was "to gather data on this species as opposed to trying to determine why it died."

It is possible that the shark did not wash ashore at all, and was instead dumped on the beach by a fisherman who accidentally hooked it. "As a prohibited species, it is important to note that it is illegal for members of the public to possess white shark carcasses or parts and that any accidentally captured white sharks should always be released alive and in a manner that minimizes stress to the animal." While the species was made infamous by the movie “Jaws,” great white sharks are classified as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, meaning that they are likely to become endangered unless the conditions threatening their survival improve.

Given the limited knowledge about the species, the great white carcass is a valuable find and will be used to provide information for further research.

The scientists determined that the shark was 167 centimeters long (that's about 66 inches) and weighed 30 kilograms (66 pounds). It was a juvenile male, no more than 2 years old.

Samples were taken from the fins, jaws, and muscle tissue, from the vertebral column to be used in age and growth studies, and from the stomach to be used in diet studies. A DNA sample was also taken, and will be used in an ongoing study of white shark genetics at Stony Brook University.

Finally, a reproductive examination was performed. Mr. Chapman said that this examination, "when combined with data from older males will elucidate how male white sharks mature."

"All in all," he said, "The specimen yielded samples and information that will help scientists and the National Marine Fisheries Service better understand and protect white sharks."

For more pictures, click here.

After a dramatic chase through the woods in Wainscott early Monday, a Northport man who refused to surrender to East Hampton Village police despite being Tasered twice was finally brought down by an officer using a flashlight and a baton. Daniel Cavan Rathgaber, 30, was charged with felony driving with a suspended license and two misdemeanors —drunken driving and resisting arrest.

Police stopped a black 2010 Honda Accord that was swerving out of its lane as it headed west on Montauk Highway near Daniel’s Hole Road. As Officer Steven Niggles approached, Mr. Rathgaber jumped out of the car and ran into the woods. Police said he kept running even as the officer shouted several times, "Police, stop!" The officer pursued Mr. Rathgaber and when close enough fired his Taser. It briefly stopped him, but then he got up and continued to flee.

Officer Eben Ball then joined the chase through the dark woods, ordering Mr. Rathgaber to stop before firing his Taser. Mr. Rathgaber then reportedly charged the officer. As the two wrestled, Officer Ball pulled out his baton and struck Mr. Rathgaber in the left leg several times.

Finally the officer was able to shove him to the ground and "strike him in the back of the head with his flashlight," the police report said. After he was arrested, Mr. Rathgaber told the two officers that "he had left Montauk, and drank six beers there. The defendant also stated that he had a prior D.U.I. charge, and that is why he ran."

A number of cuts on Mr. Rathgaber's face and body were still visible during his arraignment later that day. He refused all blood alcohol tests and was taken to Southampton Hospital for treatment before being released back to police.

Represented in East Hampton Town Justice Court by Brian Francese of the Legal Aid Society, Mr. Rathgaber told Justice Steven Tekulsky that he commutes to Montauk from Northport on weekends to work at Ruschmeyer's restaurant.

He stood in front of the justice wrapped in a white blanket, wearing blue hospital pajamas and slippers.

"Besides the serious nature of the charges, this defendant doesn't seem to obey an order of the court," Justice Tekulsky said to Mr. Francese as they discussed a bail amount, referring to the fact that Mr. Rathgaber's license had been suspended after he recently pleaded guilty, following a plea deal, to a charge of driving with ability impaired by alcohol, a violation. Justice Tekulsky said the district attorney's office had asked that bail be set at $10,000.

"He was operating a motor vehicle while his privileges were revoked,” Justice Tekulsky said. “The charges themselves indicate that the defendant fled and continued to flee, even when told to halt."

He pointed out Mr. Rathgaber's tenuous ties to the community and set bail at $8,500. Mr. Rathgaber was given several hours Monday to raise bail at police headquarters on Cedar Street. Unable to do so, he was taken to the county jail in Riverside. He will be returned to court on Thursday.