A shark attack off the coast of Plymouth, Massacusetts , Wednesday has already caused the town to close down its beaches. Officials have begun a hunt for the great white shark that breached the surface off Manomet Point and attacked two women who were kayaking there.
While the women were terrified by the shark attack, both escaped with no injuries. However, the shark took a bite out of one of their kayaks. State police in Massachusetts on Thursday released new photos of the damage inflicted by the shark.
Police also released a frantic 911 call in which one of the desperate women can be heard screaming at an emergency operator, “It was a f***king great white!”
The women were kayaking only about 150 yards from the coastline when the shark attacked, slamming into one of the boats and sinking its deadly teeth into the kayak, throwing the boat’s occupant into the water.
“The size and pattern of the bite suggest an exploratory bite from a Great White Shark. The striations around the tooth hole in the first two of these photos were caused by the serrated edges found on a Great White’s teeth,” Massachusetts State Police said in a statement released along with the photos.
Two of the most popular beaches in the area, Plymouth Long Beach and White Horse Beach, were made off limits to swimmers Thursday, along with several other beaches in the area.
Plymouth Harbormaster Chad Hunter said his crew was out with several boats trying to find the great white shark may still be prowling the area, but that spotting a shark from a boat is extremely difficult. A shark is largely invisible through the surface of the water until it rises high enough that its breach the surface with its dorsal fin.
The 911 call revealed the frantic scene as the two women, Ida Parker and Kristin Orr, struggled to bring rescuers before the great white shark circled back and launched another attack.
“Help, help, I was just on a boat with somebody, we’re stuck in the water and there’s a shark,” says the caller — though which one of the women placed the call was not clear.
When the 911 operator asks the caller to confirm that they the attack actually came from a shark, not a seal, the caller replies, “No, no, there’s something in the water. It was a f**king great white!”
[Shark Attack Images: John Chisholm / Mass. Div. of Marine Fisheries]
[Top Image via Google]