Lifeguard says shark dragged him underwater off Maine beach

A shark dragged a Scarborough Beach lifeguard about 5 feet underwater before he escaped unharmed, after officials had already warned beachgoers about juvenile great white sharks near Pine Point Beach. The lifeguard, 71, had more than five decades of experience on the water. Scarborough officials said the sightings and the attack fit a broader stretch of East Coast shark activity this summer.

The lifeguard was swimming back to shore with his hand strapped to a plastic rescue device when the shark grabbed the line and pulled him 5 to 6 feet below the surface. He freed himself and made it safely back to shore, underscoring how quickly an encounter can turn hazardous even near a heavily used beach in Maine.

Town officials said on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, that Scarborough’s Marine Resource Officer had received information about what appeared to be two juvenile great white sharks near Pine Point Beach. The animals were estimated to be about 6 to 8 feet long. John Chisholm of the New England Aquarium later identified them as juvenile great white sharks, and local reports placed the sightings near the southern tip of Prouts Neck and near the mouth of the Scarborough River.

After the sightings, Scarborough officials issued public safety advisories around Pine Point Beach and continued to alert beachgoers. Additional public information updates followed, along with confirmed-sighting advisories. Video and drone footage also captured multiple sharks close to shore, including additional white sharks observed by a drone operator, adding to concern along the coast.

The Scarborough episode landed in the middle of a wider East Coast shift that has kept beach communities on alert. States from the Mid-Atlantic to New England have been urging swimmers to be “Shark Smart” during the annual summer migration, and later coverage said sharks are moving into new waters, raising the odds that more Americans will see them near shore. Ocean and wildlife coverage has tied that trend to warming waters and northward shark movement, making encounters more likely in places where they have been uncommon.