The town of Plymouth is telling swimmers to “use caution” Monday after a shark sighting forced two beaches to close over the weekend.
White Horse Beach and Long Beach were both closed to swimming Sunday after a shark bit a seal off Manomet Point. The injured seal was pictured on a rock in the water.
Peak white shark season
“This should serve as a reminder that we’re in peak white shark season,” state shark biologist John Chisholm posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. “With warm weather in the forecast, you need to remain vigilant when entering the water!”
The town said Manomet Point is a known “haul-out area” for seals to emerge from the water and can attract hungry white sharks. Another white shark sighting was confirmed on Sunday just north of the area, off Gurnet Point.
The South Shore wasn’t the only hot spot for sharks this weekend. Several named sharks being tracked by researchers pinged off the outer coast of Cape Cod, according to the Sharktivity app.
Atlantic White Shark Conservancy 
Cape Cod shark sightings
Acoustic shark receivers detected “Lindsey Loo,” a 9.5-foot female that was tagged in Oct. 2023, off Wellfleet’s Lecount Hollow Beach on Saturday afternoon. A few hours later, she pinged off Nauset Beach in East Orleans, and then on Sunday afternoon she swam by North Beach Island in Chatham.
The buoy off Chatham also detected sharks named Commodore, Wannabee, Pearl and Indo swimming by this weekend. Wannabee is the biggest at 11 feet long, and was also detected off Wellfleet on Saturday.
A fisherman reported a shark going after their striped bass near Herring Cove Beach in Provincetown on Sunday. And there were at least 10 shark sightings over the weekend off Monomoy Island, which is a favorite gathering spot for seals.
The town of Plymouth advised swimmers to stay close to shore and not to swim or kayak alone. People are also urged to avoid waters with seals or visible schools of fish, stay out of murky water and to limit splashing.
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