A great white shark swimming off the coast of Duxbury Beach in Massachusetts forced more than 1,000 people to evacuate the water earlier this week.

A Massachusetts State Police helicopter spotted the shark about 75 to 100 yards from the beach Monday afternoon around 2 p.m. The state police then notified the Duxbury Police and the Duxbury harbormaster, and a mandatory evacuation was issued.

All people were out of the water by 2:10 p.m. and advised to not to go back in for at least one hour or so.

"Massachusetts Marine Fisheries confirmed the shark to be a great white, approximately 14 feet in length," read a statement released by the Massachusetts State Police via Facebook.

Fortunately, there were no injuries during the beach evacuation or from the shark.

"This is the first time that we have had a shark sighting in these waters," lifeguard Victoria Moore told My Fox Boston. She added that "It was coming in close," and that she was instructed by the harbormaster to order everyone out as a safety precaution.

One beachgoer said that they suspected that something fishy was going on once a helicopter began flying over the shore.

"All of a sudden, it's like, 'wait a minute, something's going on here,'" they said.

"At around 2:40 p.m., the police helicopter began following the shark south as it swam toward deeper water. By 3:15 p.m., the helicopter cleared out of the area, and at around 4 p.m. officials announced that the beach was open and swimmers could return at their own risk," reports My Fox Boston.

The great white sighting was quite an unusual sight since sharks are typically spotted only on the outer side of Cape Cod Bay.

"It is rather infrequent for us to see a shark within 75 yards in that area," said state Trooper Dustin Fitch, reports ABC News affiliate KSAT.