A great white shark was seen violently feasting on a seal off the coast of Nantucket on Sunday, transforming the shallow waters into a red swarm.
The violent episode was captured by Carrie Drayton and Tyler O’Brien near the Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge as they were driving to Great Point for a fishing trip on Sunday. At first, the shark could be seen thrashing the seal in the water before the surrounding shallows transformed into a red cloud just feet away from the dry sand. The video was later shared on social media and went viral Monday. Take a look:
The episode served as a reminder that Nantucket has since become a feeding ground for great white sharks, per Surfer.com:
The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy says white shark abundance around Cape Cod has increased over the past decade “primarily in response to the local population recovery of gray seals,” one of the species’ favorite prey items.
And Nantucket has been especially sharky this year. In June, fisherman Elliot Sudal unexpectedly hooked an estimated 8½- to 9-foot great white from the island’s south shore. “Everything has been showing up earlier the last few years,” Sudal said, noting that even with water temperatures still in the 50s, sharks had already arrived.
Massachusetts officials later tightened restrictions on shore-based shark fishing around Nantucket after several incidents involving anglers targeting whites close to swimmers and surfers. State officials called the practice an “acute public safety risk.”
Gregory Skomal, a senior fisheries scientist with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, told Boston.com that the behavior was not unusual for great white sharks in the area as they migrate north.
