Most lifeguards spend their summer worrying about sunburns, riptides, and the occasional kid who wandered too far from the towels. Greg Wilfert had a slightly bigger problem on his hands this past weekend off Scarborough Beach in Maine. A shark grabbed hold of his rescue buoy and pulled him five feet underwater before he even had time to process what was happening.
Wilfert was out on shark patrol with fellow lifeguards, which already sounds like a job description nobody wants, when something yanked him down by the strap connecting him to his buoy. His first thought was that he’d somehow gotten tangled in a boat propeller. That theory fell apart quickly since there was no boat anywhere nearby.
“It was frightening. I’m not going to deny that,” Wilfert said afterward, which might be the most understandable understatement of the summer. He managed to slip out of the strap and swim to shore as fast as his arms would carry him.
Turns out the shark wasn’t after Wilfert at all. It had mistaken the yellow buoy for a big fish, which in a strange way may have saved him. Sharks are not known for their eyesight or their manners, and this one apparently couldn’t tell the difference between lunch and lifeguard equipment.
A Beach Full of Uninvited Guests
Wilfert did the responsible thing and closed the beach immediately. Officials sent drones into the air every half hour to scan the water, and lifeguards patrolled on a wave runner. Once the coast looked clear, the beach reopened about an hour later, though it remains under a red and yellow flag warning while sharks continue lurking offshore.
This was not some fluke sighting either. Over the weekend, more than a dozen sharks, including great whites, were spotted near Pine Point, Scarborough Beach, and Higgins Beach. Marine Resource Officer Daryen Granata, who has worked the area for over 30 years, said this is a bigger cluster of sharks than he has ever seen in that stretch of coastline. That is not exactly the kind of record anyone wants set on their local beach.
As for why the sharks are showing up in such numbers, the culprit appears to be striped bass. The stripers have been sticking close to shallow water to avoid becoming shark food themselves, and that has drawn the predators uncomfortably close to shore.
Surprising Shark Attack
Maine beaches are not usually associated with great white sharks, but this summer seems determined to change that reputation. Wilfert’s quick thinking likely kept a scary moment from becoming a tragic one, and the beach’s rapid response with drones and jet skis shows Scarborough is taking the situation seriously.
Anyone planning a trip to the Maine coast this month might want to keep a closer eye on the water and a little more distance from the surf line. The sharks, it seems, are not going anywhere just yet.