A group of Jersey Shore fishermen had an up-close and personal encounter with a great white shark.
Rob Pompilio, Mike Long and another friend left from Little Egg Harbor Township on Sunday afternoon and were about 30 miles southeast of Atlantic City when they spotted the shark.
"Unspeakable. Like nothing I’ve ever seen before," said Pompilio. The great white was about half the size of Pompilio's 28-foot boat.
Long, who says "Jaws" is his favorite movie, was quick to hit "record" on his cell phone to make his own short movie of the great white shark circling the boat.
The friends say the shark hung around for about 10 minutes and seemed more curious than aggressive.
“The teeth were huge,” said Long. The great white left scratch marks from its sharp teeth on the boat. “It came up, just grabbed the boat, saw it wasn’t edible, went back down,” said Pompilio.
The founder of Brigantine's Marine Mammal Stranding Center says great white sightings have become more common off the coast of New Jersey in recent years because of an increase in the number of seals, one of its main prey.
“You should keep an eye out. If you see fins in the water, common sense should tell you to get out of the water," said Bob Schoelkopf, Marine Mammal Stranding Center.
Photo Credit: Mike Long