Great White Shark Washes Ashore; Officials Close New England Beaches
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ABC News(NEW YORK) — A massive shark washed up on a New England beach this weekend, prompting officials to close down two nearby beaches.
The Great White weighing about 1,600 pounds was discovered on the border of Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
When fisherman Gary Severa first spotted the 13-foot predator Saturday morning, he thought it was driftwood but after getting a closer look there was no mistaking what he found.
“It was pretty scary standing next to that thing…it made your adrenaline go cause he’s stone dead, but my God, it has jaws written all over it,” Severa said.
Officials are not sure why this great white died or how it ended up here. Taking no chances, they closed the two nearby beaches – South Shore Beach and Goosewing Beach– for swimmers.
Officials closed nearly 10 miles of Cape Cod beaches because it was “not safe to go back in the water,” after that stretch of Massachusetts sand was the scene of a feeding frenzy caught on tape last month.
A video taken on Aug. 22 shows another great white feasting on a seal just inches from a family’s boat, as they looked on in horror.
Last Thursday, seven sharks were spotted off the coast of two other Cape Cod beaches, some just feet from the shore.
“I’m glad summer is over. Don’t think I’ll go back in the water…,” said beach goer Kristin Allder.
Greg Skomal of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries told ABC News affiliate WCVB that they will conduct test to find out what caused the shark’s death.
“We’re going to look at the stomach — what it’s been eating,” Skomal told WCVB.
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