In a summer echo of 'Jaws,' sharks close Mass. beaches

The ghost of Jaws bared its serrated teeth at a popular Massachusetts summer retreat, causing officials to close three popular beaches Friday.

Great white sharks were spotted feeding off an 11-foot minke whale carcass earlier this week in the bay north of Truro on Cape Cod. Researchers from the area's Center for Coastal Studies captured the feeding in dramatic video, which led to the closures of beaches at Noons Landing, Cold Storage and Beach Point.

By Saturday, the beaches had been reopened, according to a dispatcher at Truro Police Department reached by Paste BN and the town's website. The whale's body has since washed up on shore, removing the source of food for the sharks. As many as six great whites had been spotted feeding off the whale.

Sharks are no stranger to the Massachusetts coast. Just a few weeks ago, news reports surfaced of a 6-year-old Houston boy catching a great white while on a fishing trip with his grandfather off the coast of Cape Cod.

The notion of sharks closing Massachusetts beaches permanently entered popular culture with the 1975 film Jaws, Steven Spielberg's first blockbuster. In the movie and the eponymous Peter Benchley book that inspired it, the fictitious Amity Island is a stand-in for popular tourist retreat Martha's Vineyard.

While some critics charge that the movie unduly demonized the ancient oceanic predators, there's no disputing the cultural fascination it spawned, which ranges from cable TV specials to aquarium exhibits dedicated to the great white.

Follow Paste BN reporter Marco della Cava on Twitter: @marcodellacava