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BEACH ON SHARK ALERT - 15-footer is seen within 20 feet of Rexhame Beach in Marshfield
By The Patriot Ledger
MARSHFIELD - The beach is open for swimming, but lifeguards and the harbormaster are keeping a close watch on the waters at Rexhame Beach after the sighting of a 15-foot shark forced swimmers from the water for about an hour.
Ive seen sharks at Rexhame Beach before, but this was more dramatic, said Sara Coyne, 21, of Marshfield. Everyone was lined up on the edge of the water watching.
Erin Baber, 21, a student at the College of the Holy Cross who was at the beach with friends, was one of the people watching.
You could see the dark shape come out of the water. You could see the fins come up, she said.
The shark was first seen shortly before 1 p.m. Saturday as it swam within 20 feet of the shore. Spectators lined the beach for several hours trying to get a look at it.
No more sightings have occurred since Saturday, but lifeguards and the harbormaster are keeping watch, beach administrator Cindy Castro said Sunday evening.
Public safety officials are taking no extra precautions regarding swimming at the beach, Castro said.
We are just doing the same thing we normally do unless (the shark) keeps coming back day after day, she said.
People had mixed reactions to the shark, Castro said. Some people were curious and others were afraid.
The shark was likely a basking shark, said Harbormaster Michael DiMeo, a generally harmless species that feeds on plankton.
Theyre always around, he said. They dont eat fish anyway - or people.
Only four shark attacks have been recorded in Massachusetts, according to the International Shark Attack File. The only reported fatality from a shark attack on the Massachusetts coast occurred in Buzzards Bay in 1936.
Officials in Humarock in Scituate have seen sharks a few times this year and called to warn people at Rexhame, Castro said.
The last time we saw a fin was two summers ago, she said. The water is still only in the 60s. ...Its really unusual to see one this early.
Sharks are more plentiful in local waters in late August when water temperatures reach the 70s, Castro said.
Leanne Goffredo, 21, of Mansfield was sitting on the shore watching friends wade into the water when she first saw what looked like a fin.
At first, we second-guessed ourselves. Are there dolphins around there? she wondered.
Goffredo told people swimming nearby that she thought she had seen a shark and then notified lifeguards.
Lifeguards followed protocol after seeing the shark and called the harbormaster before clearing swimmers from the water, Castro said.
Assistant Harbormaster Edward Vacha maneuvered his boat between the shark and the shore and slowly steered it out toward deeper water.
Vacha said seeing sharks is nothing out of the ordinary and that they are often seen by fishermen farther out in the ocean.
They are harmless and they are out there, but when people on the beach see it they get all freaked out, Vacha said.
The shark came close to the shore because knee-depth water is where they usually feed, he added.
Swimmers were allowed back into the water once the shark was in the deep water and had not been seen by lifeguards for at least 25 minutes, Castro said.
Marshfield has never had to close a beach because of a shark sighting, Castro said.
In August 2005, a shark sighting off Egypt Beach in Scituate also forced bathers from the water. A 10-foot shark swimming as close as 15 feet from shore sent lifeguards scrambling to warn people to get out of the water on nearby beaches.
In August 1997, two reports of a 10- to 12-foot shark in the waters off Duxbury Beach prompted authorities to warn beach-goers to watch where they swim.
Shark sighting
Beach-goers spied a 15-foot shark swimming within 20 feet of shore at Rexhame Beach in Marshfield.
The shark is believed to be a basking shark, which are harmless to humans.
There have only been four shark attacks recorded in Massachusetts, according to the International Shark Attack File.
The only reported fatal shark attack in Massachusetts occurred in Buzzards Bay in 1936.
Our sharks
There are more than 360 species of sharks, but only a fraction of them visit Massachusetts waters with any regularity:
BLUE
Length: 13 feet
Diet: Mackerel, herring, dogfish
SAND TIGER
Length: 10 feet
Diet: Smaller fish, including slow swimmers and bottom dwellers, and even crabs
BASKING
Length: Up to 33 feet
Diet: Toothless, uses gill rakers to sieve plankton from the water. Evenly triangular dorsal fin and mottled gray and black color.
DOGFISH
Length: 3-4 feet
Diet: Any fish, squid, shrimp, crabs, octopus
PORBEAGLE
Length: 12 feet
Diet: Bony fish, squid and shellfish
OCEANIC WHITETIP
Length: 13 feet
Diet: Tuna, barracuda, white marlin, squid, turtles, seabirds, garbage
Stephanie Chaisson, Jessica Torrez-Riley, Diana Schoberg and Adva Saldinger of The Patriot Ledger staff contributed to this report.
Copyright 2007 The Patriot Ledger
Transmitted Monday, July 16, 2007
By The Patriot Ledger
MARSHFIELD - The beach is open for swimming, but lifeguards and the harbormaster are keeping a close watch on the waters at Rexhame Beach after the sighting of a 15-foot shark forced swimmers from the water for about an hour.
Ive seen sharks at Rexhame Beach before, but this was more dramatic, said Sara Coyne, 21, of Marshfield. Everyone was lined up on the edge of the water watching.
Erin Baber, 21, a student at the College of the Holy Cross who was at the beach with friends, was one of the people watching.
You could see the dark shape come out of the water. You could see the fins come up, she said.
The shark was first seen shortly before 1 p.m. Saturday as it swam within 20 feet of the shore. Spectators lined the beach for several hours trying to get a look at it.
No more sightings have occurred since Saturday, but lifeguards and the harbormaster are keeping watch, beach administrator Cindy Castro said Sunday evening.
Public safety officials are taking no extra precautions regarding swimming at the beach, Castro said.
We are just doing the same thing we normally do unless (the shark) keeps coming back day after day, she said.
People had mixed reactions to the shark, Castro said. Some people were curious and others were afraid.
The shark was likely a basking shark, said Harbormaster Michael DiMeo, a generally harmless species that feeds on plankton.
Theyre always around, he said. They dont eat fish anyway - or people.
Only four shark attacks have been recorded in Massachusetts, according to the International Shark Attack File. The only reported fatality from a shark attack on the Massachusetts coast occurred in Buzzards Bay in 1936.
Officials in Humarock in Scituate have seen sharks a few times this year and called to warn people at Rexhame, Castro said.
The last time we saw a fin was two summers ago, she said. The water is still only in the 60s. ...Its really unusual to see one this early.
Sharks are more plentiful in local waters in late August when water temperatures reach the 70s, Castro said.
Leanne Goffredo, 21, of Mansfield was sitting on the shore watching friends wade into the water when she first saw what looked like a fin.
At first, we second-guessed ourselves. Are there dolphins around there? she wondered.
Goffredo told people swimming nearby that she thought she had seen a shark and then notified lifeguards.
Lifeguards followed protocol after seeing the shark and called the harbormaster before clearing swimmers from the water, Castro said.
Assistant Harbormaster Edward Vacha maneuvered his boat between the shark and the shore and slowly steered it out toward deeper water.
Vacha said seeing sharks is nothing out of the ordinary and that they are often seen by fishermen farther out in the ocean.
They are harmless and they are out there, but when people on the beach see it they get all freaked out, Vacha said.
The shark came close to the shore because knee-depth water is where they usually feed, he added.
Swimmers were allowed back into the water once the shark was in the deep water and had not been seen by lifeguards for at least 25 minutes, Castro said.
Marshfield has never had to close a beach because of a shark sighting, Castro said.
In August 2005, a shark sighting off Egypt Beach in Scituate also forced bathers from the water. A 10-foot shark swimming as close as 15 feet from shore sent lifeguards scrambling to warn people to get out of the water on nearby beaches.
In August 1997, two reports of a 10- to 12-foot shark in the waters off Duxbury Beach prompted authorities to warn beach-goers to watch where they swim.
Shark sighting
Beach-goers spied a 15-foot shark swimming within 20 feet of shore at Rexhame Beach in Marshfield.
The shark is believed to be a basking shark, which are harmless to humans.
There have only been four shark attacks recorded in Massachusetts, according to the International Shark Attack File.
The only reported fatal shark attack in Massachusetts occurred in Buzzards Bay in 1936.
Our sharks
There are more than 360 species of sharks, but only a fraction of them visit Massachusetts waters with any regularity:
BLUE
Length: 13 feet
Diet: Mackerel, herring, dogfish
SAND TIGER
Length: 10 feet
Diet: Smaller fish, including slow swimmers and bottom dwellers, and even crabs
BASKING
Length: Up to 33 feet
Diet: Toothless, uses gill rakers to sieve plankton from the water. Evenly triangular dorsal fin and mottled gray and black color.
DOGFISH
Length: 3-4 feet
Diet: Any fish, squid, shrimp, crabs, octopus
PORBEAGLE
Length: 12 feet
Diet: Bony fish, squid and shellfish
OCEANIC WHITETIP
Length: 13 feet
Diet: Tuna, barracuda, white marlin, squid, turtles, seabirds, garbage
Stephanie Chaisson, Jessica Torrez-Riley, Diana Schoberg and Adva Saldinger of The Patriot Ledger staff contributed to this report.
Copyright 2007 The Patriot Ledger
Transmitted Monday, July 16, 2007
