CHATHAM, Mass. — Officials closed five miles of a Cape Cod beach after a spotter pilot saw three more great white sharks, including one swimming about 100 yards from a party on the sand.

Harbor master Stuart Smith said today the isolated South Beach in Chatham, just south of popular Lighthouse Beach, is closed to swimming indefinitely.

A shark, estimated at 14 feet long and 1,500 pounds, was sighted 100 yards offshore of a large group of people sitting on the beach.

State marine fishery officials said earlier this week a handful of great whites have been seen offshore at Chatham.

State Division of Marine Fisheries director Paul Diodati said the sharks are likely being attracted to seals swimming close to shore there.

By The Associated Press