Shark Sighting In Wells, Maine Being Investigated By Police

Police officials in Wells, Maine, are investigating a Saturday report about the sighting of a great white shark off the coast of Moody Beach. A charter fishing vessel reportedly spotted the shark at about 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, after which the harbormaster in the region sent a boat to the area to confirm the sighting.

Wells town's police contacted the U.S. Coast Guard and other beaches nearby to warn them. Officials said that it was an unusual time of the year to get a sighting. They added that the beaches need not be closed at the time, ​NBC News affiliate WCSH6 News reported.

Jaron Thibault, who was on the charter boat with his family, said that they were able to get close to the shark three times. "Yea it was really cool. It was spooked very easily," he said, according to WCSH6 News.

Another witness Scott Lever, who was on a separate boat about 25 miles, reportedly said that he saw a shape when he leaned over the 22-foot center console fishing boat.

“In my time as harbormaster, this is the most credible report of a large predator,” Wells Harbormaster Chris Mayo said, according to Bangor Daily News, a local newspaper, adding that he believed the sighting reports were true.

Another shark sighting was reported on Saturday along the coast of Old Orchard Beach in Maine by a man, reportedly an avid diver. Following the sighting, the Old Orchard Police informed the U.S. Coast Guard and lifeguards were sent to the location, USA Today reported.

The shark sightings coincide with the June 20, 1975, release of the movie “Jaws,” in which a great white shark is seen attacking people on a fictional New England town.

Last week, two teenagers were attacked in separate shark attacks on the stretch of a beach in North Carolina. A 12-year-old girl lost her arm and a large part of her leg in the attack. In the other accident, Hunter Treschl, a 16-year-old boy from Colorado Springs, Colorado, lost his arm.