Orange Beach shark sightings this past weekend have kept officials and beach goers on their toes. Because of the Orange Beach shark sightings reportedly involving a swarm of sharks swimming at the beach, one of the Gulf's most popular destinations was forced to shut down operations.

According to Alabama news website al.com, the Orange Beach shark sightings during the weekend had beach goers racing out of the water while swarms of sharks swam on the coasts of Orange Beach.

Nicknamed a "rare shark event" by local fire and rescue, the Orange Beach shark sightings drew double red flags amongst the white sands of Orange Beach in Alabama which means the beach is closed to swimmers. According to authorities, the incident was the first time that the beaches have been closed because of sharks.

The Orange Beach fire department posted a statement on their Facebook page saying, "We are now flying double red flags on the state beaches east of the (Perdido) Pass. There have been a significant amount of shark sightings prompting us to close the water in these areas."

Visible in aerial photos in the area of the Orange Beach shark sightings reportedly shows what appear to be at most 150 sharks brimming in the area. According to the news site, the sharks' bodies can be seen spread on the ocean's waters. Beach Safety Director for Orange Beach Fire and Rescue Melvin Shepard said, "I was just telling two paddle boaters why they should get out of the water and a three-foot shark swam by." Shepard and his team were reportedly still on patrol at the beach on Monday morning as there were no sign of the sharks moving.

According to experts, the sharks may have been breeds ranging from sand bar, black tip to bull sharks which have went to the area in order to take advantage of bountiful food available during snapper season, which happens to end today.

Shepard said of the experts' theory as to the reason of the Orange Beach shark sightings, "I think what (fishing boats) are doing is, once they get back to the marinas, they're cleaning the fish and throwing the remains back into the water. Sharks are going to get free meals as much as they can. A couple of hundred 100 snapper carcasses floating around makes for a good buffet."

Meanwhile, an update of the Orange Beach shark sightings has reported on the estimated amount of the sharks which are actually in the area. Fortunately, Shepard said that the number of sharks around Perdido Pass has decreased since Sunday. He said, "Yesterday, we saw between 10-to-20 at the pass and that includes the area East of the pass that we had to close. Today, there were seven or eight sharks right around Alabama Point Pass, and other than that we only saw one or two."

News website chron.com reports that after surveillance riding a helicopter on late Monday afternoon, Shepard spotted around 20 sharks from the area just west of Flora-Bama to the Gulf State Park Pier. The number has decreased from an estimated 150. According to Shepard, most of the marine creatures in the Orange Beach shark sightings are about three feet long. A few may also be around five feet long. However, it reportedly is difficult to identify what species of sharks they were.

Shepard said, "It can be bull sharks, it can be sand sharks. From up in the air or standing on the beach, it's hard to identify.

Meanwhile, Shepard also reiterated on the status of the beach shutdowndue to the Orange Beach shark sightings. Shepard said that not the entirety of the beach has been shut down. He said, "The only area affected by this is Alabama Point on the East side, and the first Shell parking lot. All other public access points are open."

Orange Beach shark sightings update on the beach shutdown will reportedly be reassessed about 10 a.m. on Tuesday to conclude whether the closed section of the beach will re-open. Despite the sightings, Shepard pointed out that shark attacks are very rare and the closure is a conservative measure due to the Orange Beach shark sightings.