Bone-chilling moment 17ft 3,000lb great white shark named Large Marge appears in front of freediver off US coast
A SHOCKING image reveals the bone-chilling moment a 17 foot 3,000lb great white shark named Large Marge "locked eyes" with a freediver off the US coast.
Underwater photographer Keith Ellenbogen said he "could have touched" the massive predator after it surprised him in the murky Massachusetts waters.
"Visibility was only 25 feet," Ellenbogen said on Tuesday.
"And all of a sudden, I realized that this shark had a pointy snout and a white underbelly."
The photographer was expecting only to see a peaceful basking shark when the apex predator approached him, the reported.
"It was an enormous great white shark, and I swam within inches of it. I could have touched it," Ellenbogen said.
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While the photographer was taken aback by the great white, researchers had already tagged the massive female and affectionately named her Large Marge.
The freediver said he is glad that he got to experience a more peaceful side of the breed that is often portrayed as aggressive.
"It shows that they're not just vicious man-eaters killing everything in sight," Ellenbogen said of his once-in-a-lifetime photograph.
"I wouldn't recommend being next to one, but they are not just mindless killers. They're part of the natural ecosystem."
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SEVEN FOOT SIGHTING
This comes as a seven-foot shark has been spotted swimming off a pier in California nearly a week ago.
The predator appeared as many Americans head to the coast for a beach holiday.
The Pismo Beach Police Department shared the clip on their , writing "Patrolling land and sea, our Officers located this 7-footer just off the pier this evening."
"A good reminder to swimmers and surfers to be safe and aware out there in the open waters."
The police department is using this opportunity to warn residents about shark dangers, especially because this is not the first shark sighting off of Pismo Beach.
In May of 2018, beachgoers spotted a total of 13 sharks swimming near the pier.
Some of the sharks were as long as 12 feet, and they were seen swimming less than a quarter-mile from the beach.
While no one has ever been killed by a shark at Pismo Beach, there have been brutal attacks and deaths in the county.
In 2021, a 31-year-old man was killed while bodyboarding in Morro Bay, which neighbors Pismo Beach.
Until that attack, there had not been a deadly attack in the county since 2003.
However there had been several non-fatal attacks, including an attack on a surfer in 2019.
In 2021, the US recorded the largest number of unprovoked shark bites ever, up 42 percent from 2020.
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Unprovoked shark bites in the US make up 64 percent of unprovoked shark bites worldwide.
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While Florida is the US state that sees the most shark attacks every year, California follows in third place.