It's 'Enormous': 15-Foot-Long Great White Shark Inches Close To Family On Boating Trip

A family on a boating trip near Cape Cod, Massachusetts, had the shock of their lives when they found an "enormous" great white shark swimming close to them.

The family was vacationing at the location when the incident took place. The unnamed family of five from Iowa had chartered a fishing boat Monday to catch lobster, when they spotted the 15-foot sea creature swimming feet from the vessel. The shark was just below the water’s surface, according to jaw-dropping footage posted on Facebook.

“Holy smokes, that thing is huge, dude! That’s like 15 feet! That thing is enormous,” a passenger can be heard shouting in the video, posted by Billingsgate Charters.

“They were thrilled, it made their trip. Not only did they catch a bunch of fish and lobster for dinner — this was an unbelievable bonus,” David Stamatis, who owns the boating company, told Boston.com.

He said he wanted the family to get a closer look at the shark so he steered the vessel closer to the massive creature.

The shark was spotted about four miles off the coast of Wellfleet, in Cape Cod Bay, in about 60 feet of water, said Stamatis.

“This is a majestic, beautiful, massive animal and to see it up close like that, for those folks it’s a once-in-a-lifetime event,” he said, adding: “Whether you like them or not, you have to respect them... You could be the next check off his meal list.”

Stamatis said shark sightings are rare, while adding this is the first of the season as such sightings don't happen until July.

Stamatis spotted four sharks last year, and 17 the year before. However, he said it was likely it was the same couple of sharks that keep resurfacing in the area.

“A lot of people have a stereotype about great whites, that they shouldn’t be around. But they’ve been around longer than we have. We have to coexist,” he said. “There shouldn’t be a negative stigma to a great white shark.”

Talking about some of the tragedies related to shark encounters, and their dangers, he said: “You have to be safe, and whether you like them or not, you have to respect them,” he said. “There’s a fine line. When you swim near seals, there’s a very good possibility that you don’t see the great white lurking down below… you could be the next check off his meal list.”