Cape Cod beach closed due to great white shark sightings
Cape Cod great white shark sightings have prompted officials to close five miles of a Cape Cod beach.
This June 26 photo released by Bruce Sweet shows a juvenile great white shark swimming in the Atlantic Ocean about 20 miles off the coast of Gloucester, Mass., in the rich fishing ground known as Stellwagen Bank. Cape Cod great white shark sightings have prompted officials to close five miles of a Cape Cod beach.
Bruce Sweet/SportFishingMA.com/AP
Chatham, Mass.
Chatham (CHA'-tum) officials have closed five miles of a Cape Cod beach after a spotter pilot saw three more great white sharks, including one swimming about 100 yards from a party on the sand.
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Harbormaster Stuart Smith tells The Boston Globe on Friday the isolated South Beach, just south of popular Lighthouse beach, is closed to swimming indefinitely.
The Globe reported a shark, estimated at 14 feet long and 1,500 pounds, was sighted 100 yards offshore of a large group of people sitting on the beach.
State marine fishery officials said earlier this week that a handful of great whites have been seen offshore at Chatham.
State Division of Marine Fisheries director Paul Diodati says the sharks are likely being attracted to seals swimming close to shore there.
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