Shark Sighting: Plymouth Beaches Closed For Swimming

PLYMOUTH (CBS) -- Town beaches in Plymouth were closed to all swimming for a few hours Monday afternoon after the harbormaster confirmed a shark sighting by a fisherman. Beaches were flying red flags to let swimmers know to stay out of the water.

According to the Plymouth harbormaster, the actual sighting occurred around 11:30 a.m. Patrick Vardaro was out fishing for stripers when he spotted the 14 foot great white checking out his boat off Manomet Point.

"It was wide, it was like as wide as the front of my truck, it was huge," Vardaro told WBZ-TV.

That sighting was a mile or so offshore but it was enough to prompt officials in Plymouth to shut down all town beaches for three hours.

Not long after the Plymouth shutdown, Marconi Beach in Wellfleet was red-flagged when researchers spotted a great white too close for comfort.

Coincidentally, the White Shark Conservancy released video Monday of a great white breaching with bared teeth right underneath the bow pulpit where the state's top shark expert, Greg Skomal, was trying to shoot GoPro video.

In just the last week or so there have been roughly two dozen great white sightings including close encounters with paddle boarders and fishermen.

Whether that's bad or good depends on your vantage point. "Seeing the white shark was number one for the summer," Vardaro said.

The sighting was near Marion Rock buoy right off Manomet Point.