Great white shark sightings close Cape Cod beach

[July 31, 2010]  CHATHAM, Mass. (AP) -- Officials have closed five miles of a Cape Cod beach after a spotter pilot saw three more great white sharks, including one swimming about 100 yards from a party on the sand.

Harbormaster Stuart Smith tells The Boston Globe on Friday the isolated South Beach in Chatham (CHA'-tum), just south of popular Lighthouse Beach, is closed to swimming indefinitely.

The Globe reported a shark, estimated at 14 feet long and 1,500 pounds, was sighted 100 yards offshore of a large group of people sitting on the beach.

State marine fishery officials said earlier this week that a handful of great whites have been seen offshore at Chatham.

State Division of Marine Fisheries director Paul Diodati (DEE'-oh-DAH'-tee) says the sharks are likely being attracted to seals swimming close to shore there.

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Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/globe/

[Associated Press]

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