Great White Shark Scares Boat Passenger Near Plymouth Long Beach

Plymouth Long Beach in Massachusetts was closed for a few hours after a white shark was spotted by a passenger on a chartered boat half a mile off the coast around 10 a.m. EDT Sunday.

The shark, at least 12 feet in length, reportedly came up to the surface when the passenger on the boat was trying to reel in a striped bass on his fishing line, Mass Live reported.

Assistant harbor master, Alex Robinson, told Boston Globe the shark came up to the fishing line, ate the fish caught in it and went back into the waters. There were no fatalities but the boat returned immediately to the shore after the unprecedented jump scare.

Following the incident, the beach was closed to visitors until 1 p.m., and people already there were told not to go into the water. After the shark alert (red flags flown along the coast) was lifted and the beach reopened, swimmers were warned to swim at their own discretion. People, who wanted to visit Browns Bank, a nearby sand bar not under the control of Plymouth Long Beach authorities, were also warned about the existing danger.

Lisa Raban, a resident of Duxbury, Plymouth County, told state newspaper NECN that local people are mostly unfazed by shark sightings near the beach. "Look, we've been in Massachusetts for all these years; grew up with 'Jaws,'" Raban said. "It's what we expect every time we hear the great whites are coming. Down to the beach we go."

Plymouth Beach Director Frank Livera, however, expressed concern over the incident. "It's happening more and more," Livera said. "A lot of that is because the seal population is growing and the sharks are following them."

According to the Boston Globe report, Sunday's was the first shark sighting off the beach in 2017. Last year, four to five sharks were spotted near the beach around the same season.

Nevertheless, shark sightings have increased near beaches and islands across the U.S.

According to Island Packet, a South Carolina boy swimming off Hilton Head Island was attacked by a shark on Aug. 10. Experiencing a sharp pain in his foot and finding a shark biting at his heels, Linton Suttle, 13, immediately got his 11-year-old to safety on a boogie board.

"I thought maybe it was a seashell, but as I turned around to look I saw a shadow swim away and I knew I had just got bit by a shark," Linton told local reporters.

In another incident on Aug. 12, a group of tourists enjoying an organized fishing trip off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts were taken by surprise by a 12-feet-long shark, seen breaching the waters six miles off the shore

Though similar breaches had been reported quite a few times around the area, it was the first time something like that was recorded on camera, Hap Farrell, a charter fishing captain, told Boston.com.

Watch the video of the breach below: