According to the article, “Great White Shark Sighted Near Orange Beach”, the captain and crew aboard Chipper’s Clipper witnessed what they believed to be a great white shark on July 25. The shark was seen about 40 miles southeast of Orange Beach, Alabama in the Gulf of Mexico. Captain Chip Day first spotted the shark about 200 feet from the boat. He initially thought that it was a mako, but as it got closer, he and fisherman, Joe Pruett, “were able to observe the jagged line separating the gray from the white on the shark’s body. It was then they realized they’d just had a close, rare encounter with a Great White Shark in the Gulf of Mexico.”

Pruett, who had served in the Navy and spent time in the Pacific, said he had seen a number of great white sharks, and the shark they witnessed in the Gulf “looked just like” the white sharks he had seen during his time in the Navy. Day, who has been fishing in the Gulf for 30 years, had seen numerous mako and bull sharks, but this was the first time he’d ever had an encounter with a white shark.

A picture of the shark’s dorsal fin, as well as, a shot of the shark taken from the surface are featured with the original article. Was this a rare encounter with a great white in the Gulf? Check out the pictures and the story to see for yourself.