There has been a steep rise in the sightings of great white sharks on the beaches of the US east coast, which has led to at least 59 beaches closing between July and the first week of August in Cape Cod and Islands, southeastern Massachusetts.
In fact, in the first week of August alone, a staggering 42 beaches were forced to close, according to The Boston Globe.
Hundreds of the predators are gathering to feast on the sizeable seal population in the Massachusetts beaches. In fact, researchers believe the sheer number of seals in the area have directly led to an increase in the number of sharks, as seals are their preferred prey.
The 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act banned the catching of marine mammals including seals, whales and dolphins, which accounts for today's huge seal population just off Cape Cod.
In this startling footage, a man spots a 30-foot shark swimming near his boat:Tragically, 26-year-old Arthur Medici, who went boogie boarding and was subsequently bitten by a shark off Wellfleet, ended up succumbing to his injuries.
He was the first person to die as a result of a shark attack in Massachusetts since 1936.
Joe Booth, a local fisherman and surfer, witnessed the upsetting scenes, the Independent reports.
"I was that guy on the beach screaming, 'Shark, shark!'" Booth said. "It was like right out of that movie Jaws. This has turned into Amity Island real quick out here."
One local, AJ Salerno, told the Wall Street Journal, that he has thought about moving away from the area when the situation escalated to the point that he felt had no choice but to ban his teenage son from surfing.
"We’ve been bullied out of the water by the sharks," he said.
The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy (AWSC), posted a video to Twitter on Thursday, in which bloodied water could be seen following a shark-on-seal attack.
Authorities have been putting up warning signs on beaches which read: "People have been seriously injured and killed by white sharks along this coastline."
Meanwhile, a Massachusetts state researcher who tags great whites said last month was his busiest July.