Two great white sharks have been spotted near a midcoast Maine beach.
Maine’s purple shark notification flags are flying at Cedar Beach, east of Bailey Island, the site of the state’s only recorded fatal great white shark attack, after two sightings within 48 hours, according to the Harpswell Marine Resources and Harbor Management.
The beach remains open to visitors, Harpswell Marine Resources and Harbor Management said Wednesday.
That comes five years after Maine recorded its first fatal shark attack when a great white shark bit Julie Dimperio Holowach, 63, of New York City while she was swimming in Mackerel Cove off Bailey Island in Harpswell.
In the wake of that attack, the Maine Department of Marine Resources has partnered with several organizations, including the University of Maine, Bigelow Laboratory, Atlantic Shark Institute and Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, to deploy acoustic sensors off the coast to track the movement of great white sharks.
Last year, there were 19 unique great white sharks recorded off Maine’s coast, according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources.
The Maine coast is at the northern edge of the great white shark’s range, but the fish are not commonly spotted off Maine. There are two to three sightings of great white sharks off the Maine coast each summer, according to the National Oceanographic Data Center, with another recent sighting off Boothbay.
Sightings are common from May to December, which peak from July to September. Great white sharks are most commonly spotted near Hermit Island, Higgins Beach, Seal Cove, Bumpkin Island and Ragged Island.
As the Gulf of Maine continues to warm, some scientists have said such sightings could become more common in coming years, particularly as the sharks are attracted to the resurgent seal population off New England.
