A lifeguard at Scarborough Beach State Park in Maine was pulled about five to six feet underwater on Saturday, August 10, 2026, after a great white shark grabbed the rescue torpedo (a yellow flotation device) he was using and yanked it down, officials said.
The lifeguard, Greg Wilfert, said he initially thought he’d been caught in a boat propeller before realizing a shark had taken the buoy; he quickly unclipped the strap, surfaced, and swam back to shore without injury.
The beach was closed to swimming for about an hour while authorities assessed the situation, and public safety teams reminded beachgoers to avoid areas with seals, schools of fish, or feeding birds and to follow lifeguard instructions.
Local media and Fox Weather-affiliated outlets have framed the incident as part of a broader spike in great white sightings off southern Maine this summer, with drones and spotters documenting multiple sharks near Scarborough and nearby beaches in recent days.
How Unusual Is Maine for Great Whites – And Do They Go Even Farther North?
Maine is no longer an outlier for great white sharks; it has become a regular summer range for the species, especially in Saco Bay and around Scarborough, Higgins Beach, and Pine Point.
State monitoring data shows that some of Maine’s highest levels of tagged white shark activity in 2025 were recorded in these waters. Nearly a dozen great whites were spotted near Pine Point Beach over a two-day period last week, including juveniles measuring around 6-8 feet and larger animals estimated at 10–12 feet..[7]
Historically, great whites in the western North Atlantic were most common from Massachusetts south to New Jersey in summer, but their core summer range has expanded northward over the past decade, with increasing numbers in New Hampshire, Maine, and Atlantic Canada.
Scientists link this shift to growing seal populations (a key food source) and possibly warming ocean conditions that make northern shelf waters more hospitable in summer.
Northern Limits of the Great White’s Range
Great whites in the western North Atlantic are known to range as far north as the Bay of Fundy and Newfoundland, Canada, with the northernmost confirmed record off Hare Bay, Newfoundland (about 51°18′ N) in 1956.
Modern tagging and sighting data show regular summer use of Atlantic Canadian waters – Nova Scotia, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the northeast Newfoundland Shelf – with an estimated 2,000 great whites from the western North Atlantic population utilizing Atlantic Canadian waters each summer.
Recent tracking has even documented individuals moving toward the northern tip of Newfoundland, farther north than previously typical, suggesting the species is pushing the upper edge of its range in some years.
So while Maine once felt like the “northern edge,” it is now part of a broader summer corridor that extends well into Canadian waters.
Practical Takeaway for Beachgoers
Shark encounters with humans remain rare, and the Maine incident underscores that sharks are more interested in prey-like objects (like a bright rescue buoy) than people.
Officials recommend staying close to shore, avoiding swimming alone, steering clear of seals and baitfish, and heeding any beach closures or swimming restrictions when sharks are reported.
Sources:
- Video Shark pulls Maine lifeguard underwater: abcnews.com
- Lifeguard dragged underwater by white shark at Maine beach: boston.com
- ‘It was frightening’: Lifeguard dragged underwater by shark off coast of Scarborough: wgme.com
- ‘Too close for comfort’: Maine lifeguard recounts being dragged underwater by great white shark youtube.com
- Beachgoers on alert after shark spotted off the coast of Maine | Latest Weather Clips | FOX Weather foxweather.com
- Multiple great white shark sightings prompt safety measures in New England nbcboston.com
- Great Whites Are Moving Into Saco Bay – And Some Are Getting Remarkably Close to Maine’s Most Popular Beaches themainewire.com
- Seasonal Distribution and Historic Trends in Abundance of White Sharks, Carcharodon carcharias, in the Western North Atlantic Ocean journals.plos.org
- Great white fatally attacks woman in Maine. How common is this? livescience.com
- White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) Atlantic population canada.ca
