(Editor's note: This story was posted in July of 2010.)
A fisherman claims he saw a shark in the Merrimack River today -- off the coast of Salisbury, Massachusetts.
NECN reporter Tom Langford was the only reporter to speak with that fisherman today.
The fisherman who saw it says the shark was big -- nearly the length of his boat -- about 20 feet.
He spotted it in the mouth of the Merrimack River, right over there. Just off this nearby beach.
For Joe Ogar, it was a day of fishing he won't soon forget.
"It was exciting. I never saw a fish that big, especially a shark!"
Ogar was out in his boat, just off Salisbury Beach State Park, when that shark suddenly came up alongside.
He said, he doesn't know what kind of shark it was.
"I am no specialist on sharks, that's for sure. It was gray on the top and white on the bottom."
The sighting was enough to restrict swimming for part of the day at the state beach.
"We tried to keep people chest deep all the time. And since we heard about the shark, we told them knee deep," says lifeguard Ethan Sullivan.
"The poor kids. They wanted to come swim, but now we're not too sure," says Shanna.
But for most people, the shark was something to be excited about.
"We were watching, we had the binoculars, we were hoping to see something, but we didn't see anything," says Pam.
Joe Ogar certainly saw something.
"It was a good-sized shark!"
Something he's never seen in his 25 years of fishing.
"Never, ever. Except in the aquarium. And they weren't that big!"
State police sent a helicopter up to see if they could spot the shark, but they did not see it. There have been a lot seals in the area lately, and a shark could have been drawn in by them.
