Great white shark at Martha's Vineyard?

APP.com
The Martha's Vineyard Times Web site said that on Thursday several lifeguards reported seeing a shark fin and a private pilot saw what he said was a great white shark. The town posted signs that said "Warning, shark sighting no swimming."

This is an interesting story. Several people reported seeing at least 1 super large shark. Some reports of it being 22 ft. long. THey are now saying that one of the men who said he saw two sharks while working on a boat was assumed to be lying because athorities could not find the boat he claimed to be working on.

Despite reports from several lifeguards, a pilot, and an unknown caller from a near by beach seeing this same thing, they removed all signs and opened the beach. Apparently they are now going to assume everyone was fibbing?!?! You can bet your behind I wont be swimming there.

If it is true, and there are great whites in those waters (not unheard of, but rare) .......With what we have all seen with sharks and hurricanes in the past..........Do you think this could signal a hurricane hitting this area soon?

I am from Massachusetts and heard that this was near Woods Hole.

I highly doubt it was a great white, the waters over there aren't too deep.

reply to post by mrsdudara

Last report here states the old guy lied..
www.usatoday.com...

Originally posted by mrsdudara
THey are now saying that one of the men who said he saw two sharks while working on a boat was assumed to be lying because athorities could not find the boat he claimed to be working on.

He said the name of the boat he was working on was 'John Kennedy', and apparently they can not find a boat by that name. So they are assuming that he was making it up, therefore must be a liar and lying about the story. Maybe he just didnt want to give all his personal info to the athorities........cant imagine anyone not wanting to do that

Should they just insist it is pure fable then? What about all the other reports?

It could very well be nothing. BUT stranger things have happened. Shark behavior is odd before an area gets hit by a hurricane. Perhaps they are dodging the one out by Bermuda???

Strange... Just last week there was a similar report about a Great White in an Australian Lake... ATS Discussion

[edit on 14-7-2008 by Gemwolf]

A 6 1/2 foot female great white washed up to shore in Nantucket.
Boston Globe

Maybe this is what people reported seeing. Apparently the lifeguards said the dorsal fin they saw was much larger though. It will be worth keeping an eye on.

The artical linked above states that it is odd for great whites to come this close to shore, because they stay pretty far out to feed off dead whale carcasses.

I am very curious to see what the cause of death was for this shark. I am also curious to see if there are more, and why.

whats also awesome about this is the fact that this is where Parts of Jaws 1 was shot...coincidence?

Good Day
Skept!cal

I was actually thinking of the parrallls of the Jaws movie to the actions here.
Look though, calling in to report a shark sighting is pretty serious around the beach, and you need to basically tell the truth if you want to call up about a shark sighting, and seriously, it took them all of a few moments to double check his story, and look for the boat?

I'm willing to bet the siz of the shark was exaggerated. It's hard to judge the size of something at see, and big is big. Six and half feet, for instance, is still bigger than I am, and it may be the other shark is actually bigger.

Benchley's novel was based on a rogue shark terrorizing New England, and this was based on a true story, so not unheard of in the area, though as said, it would be rare...

Originally posted by kyyuulle
I highly doubt it was a great white, the waters over there aren't too deep.

Doesn't matter. We've had people ripped in half in 2 metres of water here by them. As an experienced diver, I research them as much as I can.

If there's a tasty smell, they'll follow their nose to wherever it leads them. Someone might have been using some berley that it liked in the area. That always does it. We're not allowed to use certain types of berley here within 3km of the shore because of that reason.

The mayor better close the beaches because I'm not going to waste my time arguing with a man who's lining up to be a hot lunch.

22 ft.?????

Peace