What began as a casual swim off Maine's Scarborough Beach State Park became a terrifying encounter for a lifeguard when a great white shark bit the rescue torpedo attached to him and dragged him several feet underwater.
Thankfully, the man was not seriously hurt, but the episode has deepened concerns about shark attacks along a stretch of coast that has seen a rise in sightings.
What happened?
According to the Portland Press Herald, Greg Wilfert, a veteran lifeguard and the director of Scarborough Beach State Park, was in the water with a rescue torpedo when the shark clamped onto the float and pulled him several feet down.
Wilfert said it took him a moment to understand what was happening.
"At first, I thought I got caught in a boat propeller," he told the Herald, adding, "Once I was under the water, I knew it wasn't a boat propeller."
The Town of Scarborough Maine Harbor Master & Marine Resources later posted about the situation on Facebook, writing, "The lifeguard was pulled approximately 5-6 feet below the surface before being able to free himself from the strap attached to the rescue device and swim safely back to shore."
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The group added that "following the encounter, Scarborough Beach State Park was closed to swimming for approximately one hour while lifeguards and public safety personnel assessed the situation and monitored the surrounding waters." Officials also wrote that a witness later reported seeing the rescue torpedo shoot six to eight feet out of the water.
The encounter has followed a string of nearby shark sightings. The Herald reported that two sharks were seen at Pine Point Beach on August 4, with another five to seven spotted there the next day.
Why does it matter?
Scarborough Beach alone has had more than a dozen shark sightings this summer, and town officials have described the sharks' presence as an "ongoing concern," per the Herald.
Karl Ramsdell, a Maine wildlife photographer who has been using drone footage to track sharks in the area, told the outlet that the amount of activity has been striking. "If you go in the ocean in Saco Bay, you're surrounded by them basically," he explained.
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