Great White Shark Spotted Off NJ Coast

“There’s a great white in the surf... It was definitely a Great White. It was about 12 feet long.”

With one call to the U.S. Coast Guard Sation in Barnegat Light, eyes along the Jersey Shore started peering out towards the water.

A 12-foot great white shark was spotted Sunday in the waters off Island Beach State Park in Berkeley Township, N.J., according to the Berkeley-NJ Patch.

The Coast Guard confirmed that a boater reported seeing the shark about 200 feet off the shore.

Island Beach State Park Superintendent Mark Pitchell told Patch that he wasn't aware of such sightings happening too often.

In any case lifeguards were told to keep an eye out to see if anything looking like a shark gets too close to the shore.

Wildlife officials say that Great Whites are now migrating from Florida to Canada so it's possible one could be spotted near the Jersey coast.

Despite the report an attack doesn't seem likely. Attacks by Great Whites are very rare, officials said.

Last week, NBC Philadelphia reported that a dead 29-foot female Humpback whale washed up in the same park last week.


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