What started as a fun, relaxing day for David Cody and his son Paul ended in a close encounter with one of the ocean’s top predators. The Codys were out boating in Buzzards Bay, southwest of Cape Cod, on Sunday afternoon when they came face to face with a great white shark, the Boston Globe reports.
The two were about 100 yards (91 meters) away from Penikese Island when they stumbled upon the frightening sight: a great white shark, appearing from underneath the waves.
The shark, which the Codys managed to catch on camera, seemed completely unintimidated by their presence and actually swam toward the boat instead of wandering away. According to David Cody, the fearsome predator passed right under the boat, giving them a serious fright.
“It came over to us, and all of a sudden it came right under the boat,” he said in an interview with WCVB . “It was big. It looked big to us.”
The father and son filmed the encounter with a cell phone, notes the Boston Globe , pointing out that the footage was later examined by an expert from the New England Aquarium in Boston. The expert confirmed that the shark spotted off Cape Cod was, in fact, a great white, aquarium spokeswoman Diana McCloy told the media outlet.
Family has close encounter with great white in Buzzards Bay https://t.co/GtfWTLUtTR pic.twitter.com/9zInfF81Lk
— WCVB-TV Boston (@WCVB) August 27, 2018
This is the latest in a series of shark sightings reported in the Cape Cod area throughout the summer.
Earlier this month, a viral video (available below) shot from a research vessel showed a great white shark breach the water’s surface right beneath a crew member’s feet. The ghastly incident occurred off the coast of Wellfleet, Massachusetts, Newsweek reported at the time.
While the researcher was unharmed and walked away with just a massive scare, a swimmer who recently crossed paths with a shark was less fortunate.
Two weeks ago, a 61-year-old man was bitten by a shark while swimming near Long Nook Beach in Truro, as previously reported by the Inquisitr . The victim suffered puncture wounds to his torso and legs. Following the attack, the beach was closed to the public.
Another beach in Truro was closed on Friday after a Cape Cod National Seashore employee spotted a shark 10 feet away from the shore. A report by the Boston Globe stated that the shark was hunting a seal off Head of the Meadow.
Shark attacks on humans are typically rare, as recently reported by the Inquisitr . According to a statistic by the University of Florida , each year people report around 83 unprovoked shark attacks worldwide, with an average of six fatalities. Last year, the tally came up to 88 attacks — 53 of which were reported in the U.S. — and five deaths.