Great white sharks prompt swimming ban

Expert spots four sharks off Cape Cod beach on Saturday

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updated 11:56 a.m. ET Sept. 6, 2009

CHATHAM, Mass. - The sightings of several great white sharks have prompted a swimming ban for the rest of the Labor Day weekend at some oceanside beaches in Massachusetts.

Officials at North Beach, Lighthouse Beach, South Beach and Hardings Beach in Chatham and Nauset Beach in Orleans put up red "no swimming" signs after a shark expert with the state Division of Marine Fisheries spotted four great whites off Chatham's coast Saturday.

The expert, senior biologist Gregory Skomal, and his crew were able to tag two of the sharks with electronic tracking devices. He says the sharks were 8 and 10 feet long.

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State officials are also warning other swimmers in the area to be on the lookout for sharks this weekend.

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