RYE —The shark possibly spotted off Wallis Sands Beach on Monday was most likely a blue shark, the most common shark along the New Hampshire coast in the summer months, according to an expert at the New England Aquarium.

The shark scare prompted swimmers to flee the ocean after someone claimed to have seen a shark about 6 feet long.

While the sighting wasn’t confirmed by authorities, police initially thought it was probably a sand shark because they’ve been seen in the area occasionally.

However, a sand shark, commonly known as a dogfish, measures only a few feet long and resembles a pickerel.

“If the sighting was accurate at 5 to 6 feet, there’s no way that’s a dogfish,” said Tony LaCasse, media relations director at the New England Aquarium.

The state beach didn’t close after Monday’s possible sighting, but restrictions were placed on how far swimmers could go out into the water, said Amy Bassett, spokesman for the state’s Division of Parks and Recreation.

While beachgoers were restricted to ankle-deep water, Bassett said restrictions were lifted Tuesday.

LaCasse said blue sharks are the most common large shark found off the New England coast. An adult can range between 5 and 9 feet and weigh 150 to 250 pounds.

Blue sharks are “exclusively fish feeders,” LaCasse said, adding, “People are not on the menu of blue sharks.”

Still, he warned that people should take precautions if they see any shark in the water just as they should if they encounter a bear or other wild animal that feels threatened.

“Blue sharks can still make a mistake and hit on somebody,” said LaCasse, who recalled an incident in the 1990s involving a blue shark that bit someone along the coast of Massachusetts.

Despite the threat, LaCasse said shark attacks are rare. In fact, the last time someone died from a shark bite in New England was in 1936 in Massachusetts’ Buzzards Bay. LaCasse said people are more likely to be killed in an accident involving a moose or deer.

To minimize the risks, LaCasse said swimmers should take note of any seals in the area which could attract sharks. If a seal is spotted nearby, he said a person should get out of the water. A shark is also more likely to mistake a person for something else due to poor visibility at dawn or dusk, he said.

LaCasse said most sharks north of Cape Cod are blue sharks, followed by porbeagle sharks, which are also found at this time of year, but are most likely on their way out because the waters become too warm during the summer months.

LaCasse said a sighting of a white shark along the New Hampshire coast would be a “very rare and exceptional event.” White sharks are more common off Cape Cod where they feed on an abundance of gray seals.

If a white shark were seen off New Hampshire’s coast, LaCasse said it would most likely be in transit and not be hanging around.

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Jason Schreiber may be reached at jschreiber@newstote.com.