Moment couple spot huge basking shark off Massachusetts coast
A Massachusetts couple had an unbelievable encounter with six sharks while out on their boat.
Perry and Carmel Long were setting lobster traps from their boat off the coast of Westport when they spotted the sharks on June 9.
The couple captured a video featuring a close-up of one of the sharks that Carmel assumed was a whale.
‘That’s a 20-foot great white shark coming at us. He’s coming at me,’ said Perry.
The humongous fish surrounding the boat were actually basking sharks.
Perry and Carmel Long spotted six basking sharks while they were setting lobster traps from their boat off the coast of Westport on June 9
The couple captured a video featuring a close-up of one of the sharks that a frightened Carmel assumed was a whale
Carmel sounded frightened when they watched the first basking shark swim past their 18-foot boat.
She calmed when she believed it was a whale, but grew alarmed when she realized it was a shark.
'Oh my god that is a freaking shark. That is a shark like I've never seen,' Carmel said.
Perry spotted the second shark while a stunned Carmel was still recording the video.
She also caught a glimpse of the face of one of the sharks and claimed that its mouth was 'wide open.'
The six sharks did not cause serious harm and after the group of fish circled the boat 10 times, they swam away.
Carmel took the video of the encounter despite sounding nervous about the sharks' presence. According to Perry, the sharks were 'very calm'
'They looked exactly like a great white shark, with the exception that they were a lot more friendly and docile. They just appeared to be hanging out,' he told WJAR.
He added that the sharks were 'very calm' and it looked like they were eating 'shrimp or plankton.'
Once they swam away, Perry and Carmel returned to the harbor, but not before seeing two more sharks.
Perry and Carmel didn't manage to catch any lobsters that day, but they do hope to have another shark encounter in the future.
'I hope we’re able to see more of them. It was a wonderful encounter. It was something that took your breath away,' said Perry.
The sharks circled the boat 10 times and eventually swam away. The Longs did not catch any lobsters that day
This sighting occurred two years after Westport beaches were shut down after a lifeguard spotted a shark
This incredible sighting happened two years after beaches in Westport were shut down after a lifeguard saw a shark.
'When we walked in there's a shark flag up, and I thought someone was kidding,' beachgoer Eric Thorgerson told CBS News at the time.
Sharks are beginning to appear more in Massachusetts and experts were shocked to hear that a fishing charter discovered a dead minke whale floating near Chatham with shark bites.
The first great white shark of the season in Cape Cod was detected less than a month later.
However, according to Mass.gov, only 57 basking sharks have been tagged off the Massachusetts coast.
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