VIDEO: Rare tiger shark caught from shore in Falmouth
Tiger sharks are a warm-water species typically found farther south, according to John Chisholm, an adjunct scientist at the New England Aquarium. However, the sharks have been spotted more frequently in Massachusetts waters in recent years as ocean temperatures rise.
A late summer swim at a Martha’s Vineyard beach took an unsettling turn on Aug. 31 after a woman came out of the water with a possible shark bite to her lower leg, reported the Cape Cod Times, part of the USA TODAY Network.
The incident happened around 1:40 p.m. at South Beach, according to an alert issued by Edgartown Town Administrator James Hagerty. Swimming at the beach was suspended for several hours as a precaution, following the town’s procedure for suspected shark encounters.
No one actually spotted a shark or other marine animal, but the woman’s wounds appeared to match “a potential shark bite,” Hagerty noted. The injury was not life-threatening.
Her injuries, Hagerty reported, “did not involve the loss of a limb.”
Beach staff helped the unidentified woman, who is in her late twenties, and Edgartown Fire, EMS, and Parks personnel treated her on the scene before taking her to the hospital for further evaluation.
The incident happened at Norton Point, which marks the eastern end of South Beach on the island’s south shore, stretching toward Chappaquiddick as a long barrier beach. It’s one of the Vineyard’s most dynamic stretches of shoreline, with open Atlantic surf on one side, and calmer Katama Bay on the other. Shifting sandbars, strong currents, and deeper troughs in the area often collect bait fish, which in turn attract seals and the predators that follow them.
Shark bites off Cape Cod
It was the first reported shark bite in Massachusetts since 2018, when there were two incidents off Cape Cod. In August that year, a swimmer at Long Nook Beach in Truro was bitten by a great white. The incident was not fatal. But just four weeks later, in September 2018, Arthur Medici, 26, of Revere, was killed while boogie boarding at Newcomb Hollow in Wellfleet, the first fatal shark attack in Massachusetts since 1936.
In 2017, a great white took a bite out of a standup paddleboard at Marconi Beach in Wellfleet, but the owner of the board was not injured. And in 2012, Christopher Myers of Denver sustained non-fatal injuries to his feet and legs when a white shark bit him while swimming at Ballston Beach in Truro. Myers required 47 stitches and his tendons had to be surgically repaired.
Many shark species can be found in the local waters, including Atlantic white sharks, dusky sharks, sand tiger sharks and dogfish. According to experts at the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy in Chatham, who specialize in Atlantic white shark research, August is peak shark season. Species like white sharks, dusky sharks and sand tiger sharks are known to hunt in shallow water near shore.
The conservancy’s Sharktivity app, which tracks white shark sightings, acoustic detections and satellite pings, has recorded just two sightings of white sharks near Martha’s Vineyard this year: one nearshore in May off Chilmark, and one further offshore south of Chappaquiddick in June.
Risk of shark bites is low. How to stay safe
Unprovoked shark attacks are relatively rare in the United States. In 2025, there were just 25 recorded, with one fatality, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File, which tracks known shark encounters. The United States had the most in the world last year; there were 65 unprovoked attacks globally.
On average, there are about 61 unprovoked attacks per year around the world, according to ISAF data between 2020 and 2024. The museum defines an unprovoked attack as when a shark bites a human in its own habitat without any provocation by the human. Provoked shark attacks, of which there were 29 in 2025 globally, involve the human initiating contact with the shark. Examples include when a diver tries to touch a shark or when someone is spearfishing.
Earlier this year, a 17-year-old was bitten by a shark in the waters off Galveston, Texas, while on a boating trip over Memorial Day weekend. A man was bitten in the leg in Florida on Aug. 23 while fishing.
The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy urges beachgoers to be “Shark Smart” when they swim in local waters. This includes staying close to shore where rescuers can reach you; limiting splashing; avoiding areas where seals are present; steering clear of schools of fish; avoiding murky or low-visibility water; swimming, paddling, kayaking and surfing in groups; and being aware that sharks hunt for seals in shallow water.
Heather McCarron, hmccarron@capecodonline.com, writes about whales, sharks and other marine and wildlife, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, environmental issues, offshore wind, and issues in Barnstable, Falmouth and Brewster.