Jaws Sightings Close Massachusetts Beaches

Swimmers have been warned to stay out of the water where STEVEN SPIELBERG’s JAWS was filmed - after five nearby beaches in Massachusetts were closed due to great white shark sightings.

The predatory fish were spotted in Cape Cod over America’s Labour Day weekend (begs05Sep09), putting a damper on the final summer holiday and terrifying residents of nearby Martha’s Vineyard, where Spielberg’s 1975 horror film was shot.

Officials at North Beach, Lighthouse Beach, South Beach and Hardings Beach in Chatham and Nauset Beach in Orleans hung red “no swimming” signs, alerting swimmers to the danger.

Biologists at the state Division of Marine tagged two of four sharks with electronic tracking devices - marking only the second and third time a great white has been successfully tagged in the Atlantic Ocean.

The “no swimming” warning will remain in effect through Monday (07Sep09), reports the New York Post.