As sightings of great white sharks around Cape Cod, Massachusetts, increase, one man had an unsettling close encounter with a massive shark while boating recently.
Matt Riley posted a video to Instagram of the close encounter. It shows an enormous great white shark, face scarred, slowly emerging from the water before bumping its face against the side of the boat, mouth open and teeth visible. The behemoth turns around and ominously swims back into the depths.
Riley wrote in the video’s caption that the scene, reminiscent to Jaws, was “the most epic thing I’ve ever witnessed on the water.” He said in subsequent posts that the shark was after the carcass of a nearby humpback whale.
Over the summer, increased sightings of the sharks have forced beachgoers to shore. Last year, a 26-year-old man was killed by what is believed to have been a great white shark. Scientists believe that the sharks are becoming more prevalent because the seal population in the area is increasing.
“They are following the food. And the food, unfortunately, is very close to shore, and we are very close to shore,” shark researcher Greg Skomal told CBS News.
