Shark Causes Beach Evacuation: Officials Order Swimmers Out Of Water After Shark Sighting

Swimmers were evacuated after a shark sighting by officials caused them to shut down a Massachusetts beach around Powder Point Bridge in Duxbury. The incident happened Monday when a shark was spotted by a state police helicopter. It wasn’t revealed how long the beach would be closed, but people were urged to get out right away after a 15-foot-long shark — possibly a great white — was near the shoreline, News Center 5 reports.

A tweet by police went out that they thought the creature was a great white, but that wasn’t confirmed. Authorities wanted swimmers out of shallow beach waters until the shark made its way back to deeper waters. The time frame reportedly was around an hour, but the story is still developing.

Washington Post reports that swimmers tentatively can go back into beach waters around 4:20 pm. It’s important that everyone wait just to be on the safe side.

The news source cites the Boston Globe as reporting that this is the second consecutive day officials have seen a large shark off the Massachusetts coast. On Sunday, a lifeguard at Wellfleet beach spotted what he thought was a 10-to-12-foot shark in the waters. Shark sightings are frequent around Cape Cod because that’s where seals tend to convene.

Duxbury is a small town about 35 miles south of Boston. At least four other great whites have been seen off the coast of Cape Cod last week, which is 40 miles south of Duxbury, NBC News reports.

The Inquisitr has been reporting on consistent shark sightings and a number of shark attacks that have taken place over the summer. In Manhattan Beach, four sharks were reportedly circling a swimmer. That news story is trending right now on the site.

Last week, a story came out from Western Australia that a snorkeler was badly injured by a reef shark. The snorkler was spear fishing and believes the shark was targeting the fish he was holding. The man suffered serious injuries to his face that will require a lot of surgery. He thanks his snorkeling mask for saving his life, otherwise the animal would have likely bitten through some vital arteries in his neck. That story is also covered on The Inqusitir.

More on the shark sighting and what species Massachusetts officials thought they spotted will emerge as they update their reports and inform beach swimmers of what they actually saw.

[Photo Credit: Twitter via Washington Post]