On Thursday it was reported that two women kayaking off the coast of Plymouth were attacked by a great white shark around 6 p.m. Wednesday evening. Luckily, neither woman was injured though one of the kayaks they were paddling around in was.
According to Cape Cod Online, the assistant harbormaster says a pair of 20-something year old women were kayaking off Manomet Point in Plymouth when a shark, some 12-to-14 feet in length, swam up a took a bite out of the bottom of one of the vessels.
The women were able to hold onto their kayaks until aid was provided by the harbormaster.
The Division of Marine Fisheries was able to determine the shark’s species by examining bits of tooth left over in the bottom of the busted kayak, and the assistant harbormaster contends that great white sightings that close to shore off Plymouth are a rarity.
The Associated Press notes that the women were taking photos of seals, which are a magnet for sharks especially in this area. During the last week in August, a great white was spotted off the coast of nearby Duxbury causing the beach to be evacuated. Just days later, a predatory-looking fish was sighted off Sunrise Beach in Marshfield, though it turned out to be a sunfish and not a shark as previously speculated. It’s unclear if seals attracted these two as well.
The entire incident will remain under investigation by the Massachusetts Environmental Police.
