A lifeguard in Maine stated he “began swimming like hell” when a shark grabbed onto his buoy and pulled him underwater off the coast of Scarborough Seashore on Saturday.
Greg Wilfert stated he initially thought he was caught within the propeller of a ship.
“‘Trigger that is the one factor I may consider till I spotted there was no boat,” he stated.
Wilfert stated he was pulled about 5 toes underwater earlier than he was capable of get free and emerge on shore unhurt.
“It was scary,” he stated. “I am not going to disclaim that.”
Extra shark sightings
Officers alongside the East Coast say there are extra sharks nearer to shore in areas the place they do not normally go.
Since final week, a minimum of a dozen sharks have been noticed near well-liked seashores within the space of Wilfert’s encounter, based on Scarborough’s marine sources officer Daryen Granata.
“Often we’ll see one or two right here and there. This can be a massive quantity, bigger than I’ve seen, and I’ve labored this space for 30-plus years,” Granata stated.
The pattern is occurring as conservation efforts have led to a rise in marine life populations lately, specialists say.
“We’re gonna see extra of all the pieces, together with extra sharks,” OCEARCH founder Chris Fischer defined.
His nonprofit research sharks by catching, tagging and accumulating knowledge earlier than releasing them again into the ocean.
“It means simply attempt to be just a little bit extra conscious of what is going on on within the surroundings round you. You see a number of life, avoid that,” he warned.
Nonetheless, shark encounters stay uncommon. Final yr, the Worldwide Shark Assault File reported 25 unprovoked bites.
