Basking Shark, Not Great White, May Have Chased Kayaker Off Cape Beach
ORLEANS (CBS) - It's long, has a menacing fin and was last seen shadowing a kayaker Saturday at a Cape Cod beach.
But, it turns out it was not a great white shark after all.
Reggie Zimmerman from the state Office of Environmental Affairs told WBZ-TV Tuesday the shark spotted Saturday at Nauset Beach in Orleans may have been a plankton-eating basking shark instead.
Nearby paddle-boarder Dana Richardson and several people on the shore alerted kayaker Walter Szulc, who slowly noticed the shark following him and paddled back to shore.
"It was in the shark's hands, in my opinion he was there and what he wanted to do was up to him. I got lucky," said Szluc.
The sighting forced officials to close the beach for the day.
There was another shark sighting off the coast of Chatham Tuesday afternoon, where state officials were out in a boat prepared to tag any sharks within reach.
You can watch raw video of that sighting right here:
