March 29, 2024
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Shark fins bring tourists to Wells Beach

WELLS – The third consecutive day of shark sightings prompted tourists Tuesday to trade their tanning lotion for binoculars and telescopes to try to get a rare glance at the toothy creatures.

Lifeguards opened the beach Tuesday morning but closed it in the afternoon when sharks were spotted offshore.

People scrambled to catch a glimpse of the sharks, using binoculars, telescopes and video cameras.

“It’s become a tourist attraction like we’ve never had before,” said Fire Chief Marc Bellefeuille.

One of the sharks seen on Monday was estimated to be 12 feet long, and they’ve been spotted 50 yards from the beach in 3 feet of water. One of them was seen chasing seals, Bellefeuille said.

With temperatures cooling into the 70s, few people wanted to venture into the water on Tuesday, unlike Sunday and Monday when it was hot and muggy with temperatures in the 80s and lower 90s.

There was intense curiosity surrounding the sharks because it’s so rare for them to come close to shore in Maine.

There are plenty of sharks in the Gulf of Maine, but they usually stay offshore to feed. There has never been a shark attack in Maine’s history even though beaches are plentiful.

“Frankly your chances of encountering a shark in Maine, much less being bitten, is slim to none,” said George Burgess, director of the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File.

Marine biologists believe the sharks are either makos or their cousins porbeagle sharks, or perhaps blue sharks.

The water temperature has been in the lower 70s in southern Maine and biologists believe the sharks are chasing smaller fish that have been drawn to the warm water close to shore.

Fishermen have been catching bluefish and striped bass off the Wells Jetty where sharks were seen, Bellefeuille said.

“By and large, when sharks are found in a places, it’s because they’re looking for food,” Burgess said Tuesday from Gainesville, Fla. “If they stay in an area, that means the food has been found.”

The first sharks were spotted Sunday afternoon, and then three more were spotted Monday morning, Bellefeuille said. Later on Monday a group of six or seven was spotted, he said. No sharks have been seen at nearby beaches in Ogunquit or Kennebunk.

Wells Beach reopened to swimming Tuesday but officials closed it again shortly before 1:30 p.m. because of the latest shark sighting.

Shark species that frequent the gulf include threshers and whites, in addition to mako sharks, porbeagle sharks and blue sharks.

Makos, porbeagles and blues can be a threat to humans, along with great whites, which are rarely seen in Maine. Thresher sharks can be quite big, but they feed on plankton.


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