Sunfish Mistaken for Shark Forces Closure of Local Beach

A shark sighting at Sunrise Beach in Marshfield Wednesday afternoon turned out to be a large sunfish.

The beach was evacuated after the sighting, which was reported at about 2:30 p.m.

WBZ’s Jim Armstrong reported the town’s harbormaster said he was confident it was a sunfish and not a shark. Sunfish, which can weigh about 2,000 pounds, resemble sharks with their large fins.

On Monday, a 15-foot great white shark was spotted a few miles to the south in Duxbury.

Photo credit: Tim Melling