{"id":848006,"date":"2026-08-08T13:14:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/848006\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:14:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:14:36","slug":"nearly-a-dozen-great-white-sharks-spotted-off-popular-maine-beach-over-48-hours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/848006\/","title":{"rendered":"Nearly a dozen great white sharks spotted off popular Maine beach over 48 hours"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nearly a dozen great white sharks were spotted at a popular swimming<\/a> spot in Maine over just two days this week \u2014 prompting warnings from officials who called the activity unprecedented.<\/p>\n

At least seven great whites were seen at a sandbar off Pine Point Beach in Scarborough around Tuesday and Wednesday, with some measuring up to 12 feet in length, CBS News reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Others measured up to 8 feet, with officials dispatched to monitor the situation noting they all appeared to be juveniles.<\/p>\n

One of the sharks was spotted off Pine Point Beach. ABC8<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know it\u2019s a place where people recreationally fish in waist-deep water, they typically swim right there,\u201d said Scarborough Marine Resource Officer Daryen Granata.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just keeping an eye on it,\u201d Granata said, adding that he\u2019d never seen anything like this week\u2019s volume in his decades-long career working the area just south of Portland.<\/p>\n

At least 7 were seen over 48 hours earlier this week. Karl Ramsdell\/Facebook<\/p>\n

\u201cUsually we\u2019ll see one or two here and there,\u201d he told CBS. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a large volume, larger than I\u2019ve seen, and I\u2019ve worked this area for 30-plus years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sharks rarely attack humans; however, when they do, it\u2019s typically when people are mistaken<\/a> for prey, prompting officials to warn bathers to stay aware of their surroundings and leave if they see schools of fish or seals nearby.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The Pine Point Beach area typically sees one or two white sharks each year, not the seven seen this week alone. ABC8<\/p>\n

\u201cSharks were observed swimming and feeding in nearshore waters. At this time, there have been no reported injuries or aggressive interactions with people,\u201d the Scarborough Fire Department said in a statement. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe increased activity is believed to be associated with seasonal prey availability, including schools of baitfish and seals.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAvoid swimming if seals or large schools of fish are present. Stay close to shore and avoid swimming alone. Exit the water immediately if a shark is observed,\u201d the department added.<\/p>\n

Numerous boaters and beachgoers captured awe-inspiring<\/a> footage of the sharks, with one paddleboarder capturing a huge fish slipping ghostly through the green waters just feet beneath him.<\/p>\n

But beachgoers are doing their best not to let the sightings faze them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to get eaten. But no problem, sharks are sharks,\u201d swimmer Mark Coleman said. \u201cThey\u2019ll stay out there and I\u2019ll stay here. No worries.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nearly a dozen great white sharks were spotted at a popular swimming spot in Maine over just two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":848007,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,92196,12284,128,14322,1042,3780,338],"class_list":["post-848006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-great-white-sharks","tag-maine","tag-science","tag-shark-attack","tag-sharks","tag-us-news","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=848006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/848007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=848006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=848006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=848006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}