Stephen Frink / Getty Images
Several Martha's Vineyard beaches were closed off and on to swimmers at the end of last week amid a flurry of mostly unconfirmed shark sightings in the waters off Edgartown, where Steven Spielberg's summer blockbuster Jaws was filmed in 1975.
There were no casualties except the truth.
What began as a heightened state of vigilance triggered by an apparently legitimate sighting near South Beach the morning of July 10 rapidly escalated into what the Martha's Vineyard Times described as a "shark frenzy."
Unconfirmed reports of "dark shapes in the water" caused the temporary closure of nearby Bend in the Road Beach, even as Harbormaster Charlie Blair disavowed claims that he had personally spotted a shark there (another city official quoted him to the contrary). Several miles to the northwest, Tisbury public works director Fred LaPiana pooh-poohed secondhand reports that three sharks were seen entering the channel to Tashmoo Pond, but closed the beach anyway as a precaution. Another report said Lucy Vincent Beach in Chilmark was closed; police said it wasn't. By day's end, a 60-year-old "homeless fisherman" named Michael Lopenzo had been arrested for falsely reporting that he had seen two great white sharks off Joseph Sylvia State Beach. He was arraigned on charges of disorderly conduct.
"All is calm today," Marilyn Wortman, Edgartown's parks and recreation administrator, told the Martha's Vineyard Times on Friday morning. As of Saturday there had been no further reported shark sightings, and the beaches were packed as usual. "I would say things are returning to normal," Harbormaster Blair told the Boston Herald (cue ominous theme music).
Read more about it:
• Great White Shark Reported at 'Jaws' Filming Site - AP
• Edgartown Prohibits Swimming Following Shark Sighting - Martha's Vineyard Times
• 'Jaws'-Size Fear Sweeps Vineyard - Boston Herald
• One Day Later the Shark Frenzy Subsides - Martha's Vineyard Times
• Shark Sighting at 'Jaws' Site a Hoax, Police Say - AP
• Shark Scare on Vineyard Loses Its Bite - Boston Herald
Comments