A 71-year-old lifeguard and park manager in Maine was pulled underwater by a great white shark over the weekend, an incident he initially mistook for a boat collision. Greg Wilfert, who has served as a lifeguard at Scarborough Beach for 55 years, was swimming near the buoys with other lifeguards when the shark grabbed his rescue can.
"I thought a boat had come by and grabbed my rescue can because I got pulled under, and I realized right away that it was not a boat, that it had to have been a great white," Wilfert told WHDH. He managed to free himself from the rescue device and swim back to shore.
After reaching safety, Wilfert's immediate concern was for the beachgoers. He alerted others to the danger, cleared the water, and shut down the beach for approximately one hour. He described his swim back to shore as an urgent dash, stating, "I just swam as fast as I could to the surface, and then I just was hoping it wasn't behind me. I could've beaten Michael Phelps."
Following the encounter, jet skis and drones have been deployed to monitor the waters for increased great white shark activity in the area. Wilfert, despite not sustaining any physical injuries, is treating the incident with seriousness.
"There's been an increase in great white activity in the area recently and this veteran of the beach isn't taking any chances," the report noted. Wilfert added, "There's a lot of beaches that we have around here that there's no lifeguards, and they have the presence of these great whites, and you need to take it seriously."
He stated he would be avoiding swimming near the buoys for the foreseeable future. The incident occurred amid reports of a general increase in great white shark presence along the coast.