When visiting the beach, you know there is always a risk, and I am not talking about the sunburn. While the ocean is stunning and refreshing, it is also home to some incredible animals. Some of those animals are apex predators. While shark attacks do not account for many human deaths each year, it is still a possibility to be aware of . One that many beachgoers in Massachusets are now definitively more aware. Thanks to a live tracker, beachgoers now know that a massive great white has come dangerously close to the shoreline.
People Are Fearful As Massive Great White Comes Dangerously Close To Shoreline
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I guess Steven Spielberg wasn't too far off, huh? Okay, maybe his iconic film Jaws did dramatize and villainize the sharks a bit. However, it seems that his location was spot on. Just like in the movie, scientists have spotted this massive great white close to a popular tourist destination in Massachusetts. The NY Post shares that the live tracker picked up the predator "about 50 miles off the coast of Nantucket."
While that sounds like it is pretty far off, Masslive shares that "white sharks spend about 47% of their time at depths of less than 15 feet." Not only that, but attacks have happened close to shorelines before, in as little as 2 feet of water. So while shark attacks are uncommon, it is not unheard of to be attacked by a massive apex predator like this close to the beach.
More About This Massive Predator
According to the NY Post, this massive great white shark measures around 13.8 feet long. Additionally, it weighs a staggering 1,653 pounds. I don't know about you, but I don't want that creature getting dangerously close to a shoreline I am on. While it is not the largest great white shark ever documented, it is still a considerable size, certainly not something any of us would want to stumble across on our beach day.
This particular shark has made a 1,000-mile voyage up the East Coast, pinging at least 40 times along the way. Live trackers allow scientists to track the sharks' movements to help them better understand where they move and why. It is not a surprise that the shark is migrating. They are known to move North in the summer months and return to the South once the weather begins to cool.
