BIDDEFORD, Maine — Biddeford lifeguards confirmed Friday that a possible shark sighting reported at a beach in Biddeford Thursday afternoon was a great white shark.
Biddeford Recreation Department Director Carl Walsh told NEWS CENTER Maine a lifeguard at Middle Beach spotted the shark fin in the water around 1 p.m. Thursday.
The red flag was raised and beachgoers were ordered out of the water, Walsh said.
The lifeguard that spotted the shark, Ella Leonard, said they normally spot a few sharks every year when the water temperature warms up.
"With a shark sighting it is nerve-wracking, but it's just a sighting and it's not an attack. We just have to wash it away and focus on the main thing that is people are safe," Leonard said.
Walsh added the shark fin was not seen again, and people were allowed back in the water an hour later, which is standard procedure.
According to Walsh, the department has seen a noticeable increase in these kinds of sightings over the past five or six years, but it still only amounts to one or two sightings a year.
The department plans on notifying the state of the sighting.