TRURO, MASS. (WHDH) - Dozens of shark sightings off the coast of Cape Cod this summer has left beachgoers on edge and one man recovering after an attack.
Beaches along the Cape have temporarily closed throughout the season after sharks were spotted too close to shore.
In Provincetown Thursday, people watched in horror as a shark devoured a seal.
“We look over on the beach and everybody started yelling,” Molly Tobin said. “Everybody ran towards it and I just kept swimming because I didn’t know what was going on.”
Another beachgoer recalled witnessing the feeding, saying, “We saw the fins and then we saw the blood and it was pretty gory.”
The bloody feeding frenzy shut down Race Point Beach.
This sighting came one day after a shark bit 61-year-old William Lytton of New York while he did laps in the water south of Longnook Beach in Truro.
Two recent nursing school graduates found Lytton bleeding in the sand and jumped into action.
“We had no supplies, we were just taking beach towels and wrapping him up with it, just to be there with him,” one graduate said.
Nearly a dozen people carried Lytton up a steep sand dune to an ambulance. Truro EMS took him to a helipad in Wellfleet, where he was flown to Tufts Medical Center.
Lytton was listed in serious condition Thursday morning as he recovers from puncture wounds to the leg and torso.
Longnook Beach was closed and it is unclear when it will reopen.
The increase in shark sightings comes amid a booming seal population off Cape Cod.
“They followed in their principal food source, the grey seals, and it’s part of being here now,” National Park Services Superintendent Brian Carlstrom said.
Wildlife officials are warning swimmers to keep their eyes out and stay close to shore.
“There are more seals, so really that’s what feeds the sharks,” an avid beachgoer said. “If you see seals, chances are you’ll see sharks.”
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