'Is he gonna bite the boat?' Video shows white shark circling Massachusetts boaters
A great white shark circles around a boat as the men on board recorded it bumping its head into the side of the vessel.
It looked like a scene straight out of "Jaws", but with a lot less screaming, and a much happier ending for the boaters and the curious shark.
"Is he gonna bite the boat, dude?" one of the boaters can be heard saying in the video.
The shark was snacking on a nearby whale carcass off the coast of Massachusetts, when it swam by to check out the the vessel which is loaded with fishing rods.
"Oh my God," can be heard multiple times throughout the video as the stunned men onboard watched the shark bump into their vessel again and again before swimming back to its whale of a meal.
Bad reputation for a not-so-bad fish
Sharks will not go out of their way to try and eat people. In fact, they're sociable and curious fish that "are intelligent, highly inquisitive creatures," Alison Kock, a marine biologist, told Smithsonian Magazine.
Despite what the famous Steven Spielberg movie might have you believe, shark attacks are rare, but the box office hit took a toll on how people view the large animals, who definitely do not have a hankering for humans.
Since 1837, there have been 1,632 unprovoked shark bites in the the United States.
Sharks usually approach people with "leisurely or undramatic behavior," R. Aidan Martin, ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research's director in Vancouver, Canada, told National Geographic.
He said the fish's approach to people is totally different from how they attack their main source of prey, seals and sea lions.
"The sharks would rocket to the surface and pulverize their prey with incredible force," said Martin.
Sharks are not going out of their way to eat people, but their curiosity gets the better of them and they may take a "taste test" of things that grab their attention and seem unfamiliar, states the National Geographic.
Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. She has covered various topics, from local businesses and government in her hometown, Miami, to tech and pop culture. You can connect with her on LinkedIn or follow her on X, formerly Twitter, Instagram and TikTok: @juliamariegz
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