Great White Shark Spotting Shuts Down Massachusetts Beach - East Idaho News
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Great White Shark Spotting Shuts Down Massachusetts Beach

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GETTY 82614 GreatWhite?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1409055811244Ralph A. Clevenger/Fuse/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Swimmers at an East Coast beach faced a scare Monday after a great white shark was spotted about 75 yards offshore.

The shark shut down Duxbury Beach in Massachusetts, sending swimmers out of the water.

A police helicopter spotted the great white — estimated 12 to 14-feet long — just outside the buoys for swimmers.

“When it is that close to the coast, we’d rather be safe than sorry,” Massachusetts State Police Trooper Dustin Fitch said.

Monday’s shark sighting follows other shark sightings off of Cape Cod during the past week.

Shark sightings are up this summer, and concern is heightened as beachgoers flock to the coasts during a busy vacation weekend and the ensuing Labor Day weekend.

Those sharks are being tracked by the non-profit OCEARCH, with the sharks represented on an online map with orange and blue dots.

According to OCEARCH, five shark sightings have been recorded in the past 24 hours along the United States’ eastern coastline, and another shark was spotted in the Gulf of Mexico.


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