A monster great white shark was filmed swimming alongside a vacationing family on a boating trip near Cape Cod in Massachusetts, striking fear in beach-goers' hearts.
An unnamed family of five from Iowa had just chartered a fishing boat to catch lobster on Monday, June 13, when they spotted the 15-foot giant swimming just a few feet from the vessel, below the water's surface, according to jaw-dropping footage that was posted on social media platform Facebook.
The family received the unexpected and thrilling treat while on a charter boat near Wellfleet. Like an increasing number of visitors to the Cape and Islands, the Iowans got an up-close look at the gigantic sea creature.
Great white shark sighting an unbelievable bonus for Iowa family
A passenger can be heard shouting, "Holy smokes, that thing is huge, dude! That's like 15 feet! That thing is enormous," in the video posted by Billingate Charters. David Stamatis, who owns the boating company, told Boston.com that he steered the vessel closer to the massive man-eater to give the family a better look at the great white shark.
He said the family was thrilled with the sighting, which made their trip. The boat owner added that not only did they catch a bunch of fish and lobster for dinner but seeing a great white shark was an unbelievable bonus. He said the group had just finished fishing for striped bass and was moving onto the lobstering component of their boat trip when they saw the great white shark.
According to Stamatis, he caught the fleeting image of a fin in the corner of his vision before he and his mate Erik Schoon could help the family pull their first trap. He maneuvered the boat closer to investigate, moving the vessel slowly to avoid spooking the animal.
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Great white shark spotted four miles off the coast of Wellfleet
A shark, sure enough, was the animal that caught Stamatis' eye, according to the New York Post. Schoon took a video of the sighting while Stamatis steered the boat to get a better view of the great white shark. He said he gets a lot of joy from seeing the reactions of people who are not from the Cape Cod area when they experience the wildlife there.
According to Stamatis, the great white shark was spotted about four miles off the coast of Wellfleet, in Cape Cod Bay, in about 60 feet of water. He said that this is a majestic, beautiful, massive animal, and to see it up close like that, for those folks, it was a once-in-a-lifetime event.
He did acknowledge, though, that the apex predator may not feel quite as smitten with its audience of humans. Stamatis said that whether you like them or not, you have to respect them as you could be the next check off his meal list.
