Off the Massachusetts coast, a great white shark circled a group of boaters, and they captured the whole thing in an anxiety-inducing video!
The great white was chomping on a nearby whale carcass, before swimming over to the men's boat. In the video, shared by USA Today, the shark circles the vessel from near the surface. Eventually, the shark even bumped into the boat, while several men shared the shock with one another. Shouts of "oh my God," were heard at several moments throughout the incident. One boater even asked if the shark was "going to bite the boat" in a moment of disbelief.
The scene was reminiscent of the great movie "Jaws." Luckily, in this video, nobody was harmed, and the shark peeled back toward its whale carcass after a short time at the vessel.
Boaters Shocked As Shark Repeatedly Bumps Vessel
The incident piggyback's off of what has been a news filled summer in the shark world. Sightings in New York made waves last week. On Independence Day, shark attacks at South Padre Beach, in Texas, left several beachgoers injured. Moreover, sharks had shut down beaches across the Florida Gulf Coast in June.
Regardless of what has felt like a busy summer for shark activity and stories, experts refute that the creatures target humans. Since 1837, there has only been 1,632 unprovoked shark bites in the United States. The number is regarded as small, when considering the 180-some odd years it has been tracked.
Experts continue on that great white sharks have a reputation that is probably a bit misleading. R. Aidan Martin, ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research's director in Vancouver, Canada, told National Geographic that great white sharks often approach humans "leisurely." Martin continued that great white's attack their usual prey with much aggression. The sharks will launch to the surface with force when their target is a seal. On the contrary, sharks are often hesitant when approaching humans. When great whites bite a human, it is more of a curious "taste test" than anything else.
Regardless of expert opinion, this summer has still felt very "sharky."
