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СпутникиРНSpaceXРоскосмосNASAA veteran lifeguard in Scarborough, Maine, was dragged underwater by a suspected great white shark on Saturday while patrolling with a rescue torpedo.
Greg Wilfert, a 71-year-old lifeguard and park director at Scarborough Beach State Park, was pulled 5 to 6 feet underwater Saturday afternoon after a shark grabbed the rescue torpedo, he was carrying, according to the Scarborough Harbor Master's office. Wilfert freed himself by releasing the strap attached to the device and swam back to shore without injury.
The incident occurred around 1 p.m. while Wilfert was swimming with other lifeguards near buoys off the beach. He initially believed he had been caught in a boat propeller before realizing no vessel was nearby. "I thought I got caught in a boat propeller, and I realized when I was going under there was no boat," Wilfert reportedly said, adding that he then recognized the animal as a great white.
A bystander reported seeing the torpedo rise 6 to 8 feet out of the water as Wilfert swam to shore, officials said. He was not hurt and returned to lifeguard duty the following day.
The encounter comes amid a sharp rise in white shark activity along Maine's southern coast. Officials said at least a dozen sharks, believed to be juveniles ranging from 6 to 12 feet in length, have been observed near Scarborough Beach State Park and Higgins Beach in recent days, a number they described as unusually high for this time of year. Two juvenile white sharks were also spotted last week near Pine Point Beach, roughly a mile away.
Scarborough Beach was closed to swimming for about an hour following Saturday's incident while public safety officials assessed conditions and monitored the water. The beach has since reopened but remains under a red-and-yellow alert, meaning swimmers must check with lifeguards before entering the water. Officials said the alert will stay in effect until shark activity in the area subsides.
Maine has historically recorded few shark encounters due to its cooler coastal waters, with the state's first confirmed fatal attack occurring off Bailey Island in 2020. The current cluster of sightings, described by a New England Aquarium shark expert as unusually high for the region, signals a broader pattern of white sharks moving farther north as coastal waters warm. The episode also highlights the physical risks lifeguards face during routine patrols, even in areas not typically associated with shark activity, and underscores why public safety officials are stepping up aerial and water-based monitoring this summer.
Public safety officials in Scarborough said they will continue flying drones over the water roughly every 30 minutes and dispatching jet skis to disperse sharks spotted near swimmers, a tactic officials say has proven effective so far. The beach alert will remain active until monitoring shows sharks have left the immediate area. Wilfert and other lifeguards are urging beachgoers to stay close to shore, avoid swimming alone, and follow lifeguard instructions as monitoring continues through the rest of the summer season.