A shark sighting offshore closed South Beach to swimmers Tuesday afternoon. The water was opened again for swimming by 4:20 p.m.
South Beach in Edgartown was closed Wednesday morning after a hammerhead shark was seen swimming in the water near shore. A biplane pilot confirmed the sighting.
Norton Point will be closed to swimmers and vehicle traffic Wednesday to accommodate efforts to remove a dead fin whale.
South Beach reopened to swimming Thursday after several Portuguese man-of-war stings forced the town to close the beach to swimming on July 3.
“They are dangerous, they are prolific,” said Edgartown parks administrator Marilyn Wortman Wednesday morning, just hours after two lifeguards were stung and sent to the hospital.
“Don’t go in,” she said, “you’re going to get stung.”
About 20 North Atlantic right whales were spotted south and southeast of the Vineyard on Tuesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed. This is the second report of right whales seen near the Vineyard in a month.
On Feb. 15 six right whales were seen from the air halfway between the Vineyard and Nantucket. On the same day two more whales were seen swimming south of Nantucket.
In a few months gulls will patrol the dunes of South Beach seeking the ill-grasped sandwiches of naive tourists, but on Thursday the deserted area was the domain of “the bird.” That’s what contractor Michael Warminsky calls the extremely low-flying, modified Bell 206 helicopter that began sniffing Vineyard beaches this week for what remains of the physical legacy of the Vineyard’s encounter with World War II.