It is unclear if the two are separate white sharks, or the same white shark. A Massachusetts town shut down its beaches after a great white shark was sighted near a cliff on Monday afternoon, not long after a beach was cleared after a sighting as well. It is unclear if these are two separate white sharks or the same white shark. The Harbormaster of the town of Plymouth tweeted at about 2.30 p.m. that there had been a confirmed white shark sighting off Manomet Point, a popular spot for bird, seal, and whale watchers. "Town beaches are closed at this time with red flags flying. Harbormaster crew to the area to investigate. Keep a sharp lookout and report all sightings," Plymouth Harbor wrote in the tweet. In the same area, Marconi Beach was temporarily closed after a great white shark sighting at about 1.30 p.m., ABC affiliate WCVB in Boston reported. The sighting was reported by the Cape Cod National Seashore and the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy's Sharktivity map. White shark sightings off Massachusetts have become frequent in recent summers, but this is natural for two reasons, said George Burgess, director emeritus of the International Shark Attack File maintained by the Florida Museum of Natural History. One, the temperature of the water near the Massachusetts coast at this time hovers just below 20 degrees Celsius -- cool enough for the sharks to be comfortable in, and warm enough for the more adventurous humans to venture into. There's bound to be some overlap and sightings as our population continues to increase, he said. Two, due to successful conservation efforts in recent decades, the population of seal colonies, once endangered, is beginning to be re-established and this attracts great whites looking for a hearty meal. "This is good news," Burgess said. "Our conservation efforts are working. Now, it's our job to adapt."<doc-sep>A great white shark breached the surface directly under the feet of a researcher who was trying to get video of the animal off the coast of Wellfleet, Mass.The scary encounter even surprised the research team. "Woah, holy crap! It jumped right out of the water," said the man who was steering the research boat.The scientist on the bow continued to try to record the animal with a camera secured to the end of a painter's pole, even while exclaiming, "Did you see that? "Every summer, researchers from the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries take to the waters to place high-tech tags on great white sharks. The tags help researchers to track the movements of the animals, study their behavior and estimate the size of the population. "While encounters like this one are rare, this video shows that they’re certainly possible. White sharks are wild and unpredictable animals," the conservancy wrote on YouTube. A couple hours after this video was posted, the team announced it had tagged its eighth shark of the season. A great white shark breached the surface directly under the feet of a researcher who was trying to get video of the animal off the coast of Wellfleet, Mass. Advertisement The scary encounter even surprised the research team. "Woah, holy crap! It jumped right out of the water," said the man who was steering the research boat. The scientist on the bow continued to try to record the animal with a camera secured to the end of a painter's pole, even while exclaiming, "Did you see that?" Every summer, researchers from the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries take to the waters to place high-tech tags on great white sharks. The tags help researchers to track the movements of the animals, study their behavior and estimate the size of the population. "While encounters like this one are rare, this video shows that they’re certainly possible. White sharks are wild and unpredictable animals," the conservancy wrote on YouTube. A couple hours after this video was posted, the team announced it had tagged its eighth shark of the season. This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.<doc-sep>
Another great white shark sighting at a popular Cape Cod beach has closed a Massachusetts beach. It's the second consecutive day that a Cape Cod beach has been closed for a great white shark sighting, and it comes days after a scientist posted a viral video off the Massachusetts coast of a great white lurching toward him from the water. On Tuesday morning Head of the Meadow Beach in Truro closed for an hour after a sighting around 11:30 a.m. Eastern, according to reports. On Monday, NBC News reported that, "Marconi Beach was closed to swimming for an hour Monday due to a shark sighting, and all beaches in Plymouth were temporarily closed after two fishermen spotted a 12 to 13 foot great white off Manomet Point." "He came right over to the boat," said Nick Kraszyk, one of the fishermen, according to NBC. "He was a little bit curious, and when he realized that we weren't anything special, he just turned and headed off, couldn't find him anymore." The sightings came one day after a scientist made viral news with a video of a great white leaping from the water toward him. "While out on research trips, we've seen white sharks breach and we've received multiple reports of breaching white sharks this year from fishermen and boaters," the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy wrote on YouTube. "While encounters like this one are rare, this video shows that they're certainly possible. White sharks are wild and unpredictable animals. This is a good reminder of the importance of not becoming complacent and always staying vigilant when in or on the water."