Caught on video: Giant shark swims close to ship off Mass. coast

It’s hard to believe the giant shark captured in a now-viral TikTok video is real, and not something out of a movie, yet there it is, swimming terrifyingly close to a ship in the Atlantic.

The gigantic shark was spotted by Alex Albrecht, who is studying marine biodiversity, while he was on the mast of the SSV Corwith Cramer. The vessel was about 100 miles off the coast of Wools Hole, Massachusetts at the time. As of Friday morning, the video had over 40 million views, over 5 million likes, and in excess of 55,000 comments.

While some in the comments joked that it was a megalodon – an extinct shark said to be the largest shark that ever lived – it’s actually a basking shark, according to NBC10 Boston. It’s not considered dangerous to humans, the Florida Museum noted.

Warning: Video contains explicit language.

“I’m so grateful to be able to share such a wonderful creature with so many people,” Albrecht told the news station. “I hope it makes people want to protect and conserve biodiversity in our oceans.”

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