Popular North Shore beach closed after great white shark spotted near shore

IPSWICH, Mass. — A popular North Shore beach was closed to swimming on Tuesday afternoon after a great white shark was spotted near the shoreline, authorities said.

The Ipswich Police Department confirmed the shark sighting off the east end of Crane Beach.

Videos shared by the police department showed the shark swimming in about five to seven feet of water.

The shark sighting also pinged on the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s real-time shark activity map.

The map showed a blue shark fin icon off Crane Beach, which indicates a confirmed white shark sighting. Earlier this summer, a confirmed shark sighting was recorded 20 miles north off Plum Island in Newburyport.

The map’s menu tools allow users to filter shark sightings as recent as 48 hours, over the last 30 days, or between a custom date range.

The icons on the map indicate the following:

• Red alert icon: A white shark sighting is confirmed close to a public beach
• Blue shark fin icon: A confirmed white shark sighting
• Orange shark fin icon: An unconfirmed white shark sighting
• Yellow icon: A receiver that detects white sharks tagged with acoustic tags and transmits the data in real-time
• Purple icon: A real-time detection of a shark tagged with an acoustic tag that is less than an hour old
• Orange icon: Detections of sharks tagged with acoustic transmitters
• Green icon: The shark’s dorsal fin breaks the surface and the tag transmits to overhead satellites

The Sharktivity app, which is available to download on iPhone and Android, tracks sightings fed by researchers, safety officials, and users who upload photos for confirmation.

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