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Shark bites paddleboard in Wellfleet, beach shuts down

WELLFLEET, Mass. — Lifeguards closed Marconi Beach Wednesday morning after a shark bit a paddleboard.

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A photo sent to Boston 25 News shows the teeth marks from the shark.

A stand-up paddleboarder was in the Marconi Beach water around 10:30 a.m. when the board was bitten.

The paddleboarder was in about three feet of water and about 30 yards offshore at the time, according to Kathy Tevyaw, acting superintendent for the Cape Cod National Seashore.

A NPS ranger said there was lots of mung in the water and he couldn't see the bottom and it's likely the shark didn't know what he was tasting.

"Any sort of shark, if they wanted to take a bite, could have ripped that paddleboard. But it didn't," said the ranger.

The National Seashore ranger staff is investigating along the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy is headed to the scene.

Around noon, the water was open to swimmers again, but officials with the Cape Cod National Seashore highly encouraged swimmers to stay close to shore.

The ranger said she thinks it's very likely that it was a great white shark, but that needs confirmation.

"It was probably a young shark," said the lifeguard.

The ranger said that sightings seem to increase in August through October in the northern areas of Cape Cod.

>>SEE MORE PHOTOS: Shark bites paddleboard in Wellfleet, officials investigating

On Monday, Nauset Beach in Orleans was shut down after a shark began feasting on a seal in shallow waters.

Following the Nauset Beach incident, a Barnstable County commissioner proposed using bait to hook and catch great white sharks.

This morning at around 10 am, there was a confirmed bite by a shark on a stand up paddle board at Marconi Beach in...

Posted by Cape Cod National Seashore on Wednesday, August 23, 2017
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Officials speaking after a shark bit a paddleboard at Marconi Beach in Wellfleet.

Posted by Boston 25 News on Wednesday, August 23, 2017