CAPE ELIZABETH — Maine's plan to use shark warning flags this year came into play on Friday when a great white shark was spotted off Cape Elizabeth.
The eight-foot juvenile shark named “Tuck” was detected by a tracking device off Crescent Beach State Park, the Portland Press Herald reported. The Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands said this is the first year the shark warning flags are in use, and Friday was the first time the system was used at Crescent Beach.
The warning was used as a response to the tracking signal and not any sightings of a shark. Dozens of swimmers ignored it and continued swimming amid Friday's searing heat and oppressive humidity.
The flag is a purple flag with an outline of a shark on it. The state adopted it this year after a white shark fatally bit swimmer Julie Dimperio Holowach near Bailey Island last year.