PLYMOUTH, MASS. (WHDH) - Shark sightings prompted the closures of two Massachusetts beaches Monday during one of the hottest days of the summer.
Beaches in Plymouth and Wellfleet shut down for the day after two great white shark spottings.
Fisherman Patrick Vadaro was out on a boat near Manomet Point Monday afternoon when he saw a shark circling just below the surface, about a mile from shore.
“Honestly, I was hoping to see one all summer,” he said. “I was just excited to see it. We grabbed out telephones and tried to film.”
Vadaro reported the roughly 14-foot long shark to the Plymouth harbormaster.
Red flag warnings immediately went up at White Horse Beach, forcing swimmers looking to beat the heat back onto the sand.
“The lifeguards were sprinting down, frantic, and yelling, ‘clear the water for your own safety,'” beachgoer Katy Verlander described.
It was soon after beachgoers found out it was a great white sighting.
“I thought I was gonna get eaten,” another beachgoer said. “I have an irrational fear of sharks. I don’t want to see a shark. I don’t want to be near a shark. I am not about it.”
Marconi Beach in Wellfleet also closed Monday after researchers from the Atlantic Shark Conservancy spotted a shark.
The beaches have since been reopened but swimmers are being urged to use caution.
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