WELLFLEET, MASS. (WHDH) - A shark sighting off the coast of Wellfleet on Tuesday afternoon left swimmers on the shore as state police tried tracking it in the water.
Troopers in a helicopter say they spotted the shark off Newcomb Hollow Beach, prompting lifeguards to evacuate everyone from the water.
Chris Conte, who was on the beach during the sighting, says other beachgoers attempted to catch a glimpse of the shark.
“Everyone starts rushing up and down the beach trying to see if they can spot the shark themselves,” he described.
Conte added that shark sightings have become normal on Cape Cod.
“At this point, I think it’s happened so much that people don’t even question what it is. They just know that it was a shark sighting,” he said.
Sharks are a real fear for swimmers but people still got back in the water as soon as the lifeguards gave the all clear.
“I think people are just more aware of it now, given the circumstances of the last year or two,” Conte said.
This recent sighting happened at the same beach where Arthur Medici, 26, of Revere, was killed in a shark attack last summer.
Life-saving measures were attempted on the beach before he was taken to Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, where he was pronounced dead.
This was the first deadly shark attack in Massachusetts in more than 80 years.
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