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Crane Beach to remain closed to swimming until the end of the month due to sharks
The sharks' presence may be due to schooling fish.
Crane Beach will remain closed to swimming through Sept. 30 due to the continued presence of sharks.
“Visitor safety is our top priority,” Christopher Moore, property director for Crane Beach and Castle Hill, said in a statement. “We will continue to reassess and will reopen for swimming as soon as shark activity in the area dissipates enough to be deemed safe.”
Moore said another patrol for sharks will happen on Friday, Sept. 27, or Monday, Sept. 30, weather permitting.
All other activities, such as walking, hiking on the dune trails, or enjoying the beach, are still open. When shorebird season concludes, the beach will also open to dog walking on Oct. 1.
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Earlier this month, reports of great white sharks off the North Shore beach began to pile in. The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy app reported six shark sightings this past week.
Shark expert Gregory Skomal of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries said that the sharks off Crane Beach appear to be smaller white sharks that feed on schooling fish. Skomal has heard reports of striped bass and tuna in the area.
“Given the weather, there is no indication that the white sharks are still around,” Skomal wrote in an email to Boston.com.
However, he understands that the beach managers are taking a precautionary approach. After all, he wrote, “If the schools of fish remain, the white sharks might as well.”
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