A great white shark grabbed the spotlight Sunday during an all-day whale-watching charter out of San Diego when it repeatedly circled the 27-foot boat.
Domenic Biagini, owner of Gone Whale Watching San Diego, described the rare encounter on Facebook:
“A Great White Shark was patrolling a kelp patty, and decided it wanted to come take a closer look at our boat! For nearly 45 minutes this beautiful shark circled our boat at close range, making for a truly special encounter.”
Biagini told For The Win Outdoors that the 8-foot juvenile shark was sighted 15 miles offshore after his six passengers had viewed a pod of dolphins, and before they would encounter humpback whales.
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The footage shows two passengers at the bow watching in silent disbelief. But Biagini said the other passengers were alarmed and one asked, “Is it going to jump in the boat?”
Biagini captured the topside footage with a cellphone and first mate Kyle Henderson captured the underwater footage.
White sharks this size typically prey on small fish and rays, and are more commonly encountered in coastal waters.
Gone Whale Watching San Diego ran 8-hour trips Friday through Sunday and posted its sightings tally on Facebook:
–26 humpback whales
–2 fin whales
–2 minke whales
–1000s of common dolphins
–100 bottlenose dolphins
–1 great white shark
–Images courtesy of Gone Whale Watching San Diego