brought front and center

Response: The shark washed up on Goosewing Beach in Little Compton, Rhode Island, and was discovered by a fisherman on Saturday morning

The beach has since reopened.



Shark spotter Greg Skomal, of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Gary Severa told WPRI-TV that he was out fishing shortly before dawn when he spotted what he initially believed was driftwood. A closer inspection revealed that it was a shark.

A number of popular beaches in the area were closed for the Labor Day weekend after multiple reports of sharks, including the great whites, swimming not far from the coast.



The closure is just the latest twist in an unusually shark-infested Cape Cod summer.



Examination: Researchers dissected the shark after it was discovered onGoosewing Beach in Little Compton, Rhode Island

A string of beaches off the shore of Chatham, Massachusetts were shut down indefinitely on Wednesday, making it likely they will be closed throughout the Labor Day weekend.



Fishermen and tourists have reported an unexpectedly high number of sharks in the Atlantic off the Cape Cod coast, some less than 20 feet offshore.

Last week, a vacationing family filmed footage of a great white shark feeding on a seal just a few feet away from their boat.



And in July, a man was bitten in the leg by a shark while surfing off Ballston Beach.



Gruesome: The shark was examined and dissected by officials responding to the Rhode Island beach, which was closed after the discovery. It has since reopened



This weekend's beach closure was partly prompted