Archive for the 'Closings' Category
Thursday, December 23rd, 2010
The sighting of a great white shark has closed beaches in the Margaret River region in Western Australia’s southwest.
A beachgoer spotted the large shark about 11.20am (WST) today about 350m off Gas Bay south of the Margaret River mouth.
Beaches were been closed from the river mouth to Gas Bay for 24 hours as a precaution. They will be reopened at 12 noon tomorrow (Friday) as long as there are no further sightings.
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Thursday, December 23rd, 2010
Mount Maunganui beach was evacuated around 2pm after a surfer reported seeing a shark.
The beach was cleared as a precaution after the surfer spotted something in the water about 150 metres to 200 metres offshore.
The five surf lifeguards on duty cleared people from the water and closed the beach, the Bay of Plenty Times reported.
The announcement was made over loudspeakers, with about 200 people in the water at the time.
[source]
photo: Robert Engberg
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010
Tourists visiting the French Riviera have been left high and dry after a shark sighting prompted a swimming ban.
The alert was issued yesterday after lifeguards patrolling in a motorboat spotted a creature measuring more than seven feet long.
Red ‘no swimming’ flags were also raised in the resorts of Villeneuve – Loubet and St. Laurent-du-Var, as people in boats telephoned warnings about the suspected shark, which had a large dorsal fin and a white belly. It was swimming some 150 feet off the coast, prompting fears that it might be wounded or ill, and might start attacking swimmers.
The French ban was lifted by this morning.
[source]
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
A stretch of Rockaway Beach in Queens was closed for more than an hour on Saturday morning after a shark was spotted swimming among surfers near the shore.
“It swam right under my buddy’s board as he was paddling out, and some surfers paddled away around the jetty,” said Alex Karinsky, 46, of Rockaway. “It’s the third shark sighting here this summer.”
The shark — some beachgoers insisted there were actually three — was spotted around 10 a.m. by surfers at what is one of the city’s official surfing beaches, near Beach 90th Street. Lifeguards ordered surfers out of the water along a stretch of more than a mile.
[source]
Friday, August 6th, 2010
A shark sighting sent Cocoa Beach swimmers running for shore yesterday. The shark was spotted Thursday afternoon by Brevard County Ocean Rescue staff. Lifeguards had to order about 300 swimmers to get out of the water for at least 30 minutes.
Assistant Chief Eisen Witcher says the 30-minute wait policy is to gauge if the sharks are still around. If they are, the clocks starts over.
[source]
Friday, August 6th, 2010
Three Massachusetts beaches are closed after shark sightings near New Bedford. The East, West, and Fort Tabor beaches are all closed to swimming, but shell fishermen are still allowed to venture into the water at their own risk.
At 10 a.m. on Wednesday morning, a rowing instructor spotted a shark-like figure in the water. After another sighting, the Fairhaven Harbormaster agreed that it was a shark. They believe it was an 8-10 foot Great White, very similar to the description of the shark that was spotted at Horseneck Beach 8 miles north.
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Sunday, August 1st, 2010
Chatham beaches were closed on Friday after at least 5 great white sharks were spotted off the coast, some as close as 100 yards from shore. Just before 11 a.m., two 12- to 14-foot great whites swam 200 yards apart, about a quarter-mile off South Beach. To the north, another great white was swimming back and forth about 100 yards off the beach. Then around 1 p.m., three sharks were spotted, all within 100 yards of the coast.
[source]
Thursday, July 15th, 2010
A group of sharks spotted off the Jersey Shore this morning prompted lifeguards to briefly close a beach on Barnegat Peninsula for the second day in a row.
Three shark fins cut through the water about 9:30 a.m. near 10th Lane off Midway Beach, said Sgt. Nick Bruno who made the sighting. Swimming was banned for about an hour until the sharks moved south, he said.
Midway Beach is directly south of Seaside Park, where sightings of two sharks yesterday caused lifeguards to close the beach for several hours.
On Monday, sharks were spotted off Ocean Beach north of Seaside Park, forcing lifeguards to close that beach for about a half hour.
Shark attacks may be rare at the Jersey Shore and there hasn’t been a fatal attack since 1926… but I’m not taking any chances.
[source]
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
A 23 ft shark spotted near a Christchurch beach in New Zealand forced lifesavers to clear the water on one of the busiest days of the year.
Life saving manager Dougal Holmes said South Brighton Beach was cleared after police reported a shark sighting near Waimairi Beach at 2pm yesterday and signs were put up to warn beachgoers.
He said the beach clearance was a precautionary measure only, as shark attacks were extremely rare.
[source]
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
Waters off Ho’okipa Beach Park were closed for two hours yesterday after a shark sighting on the north shore of Maui.
The shark was estimated to be a 12-foot tiger shark, and it was spotted at 11:15 a.m. about 150 yards from the surf break.
Ho’okipa, a popular surfing spot, was closed from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for one mile both north and south of the surfing reef. The beach park remained open.
Warning signs were posted in the area, and no injuries were reported.
[source]
