Local News

Great white shark chows down on seal in Maine woman’s graphic photos

The shark takes several bites out of the seal.

By Susannah Sudborough

July 13, 2022

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A Maine woman was able to capture pictures of a bloody scene this weekend; a great white shark chasing down a seal and eating it.

Sue Fontaine shot 116 photos of the shark’s feast near the Whitehead Island Lighthouse off the coast of Maine in less than six minutes on Sunday, and shared 80 of those photos on Facebook.

In the photos, blood is already pooling around the seal, whose head you can see above the water. The water goes calm, but you can see the shark’s dorsal fin and tail.

Fontaine captures the moments when the shark attacks, causing a big splash and more blood to leak into the water as the seal desperately tries to escape.

Fontaine sent her shark sighting to the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, which sent out an alert on its Sharktivity app. The app tracks shark sightings, both confirmed and unconfirmed, on the New England coast to help raise awareness about sharks and keep beachgoers safe.

Another gruesome shark attack in Maine was caught on video on July 7.

According to the Sharktivity app, there have been nine confirmed shark sightings off the coast of Maine in the last month.

Shark activity on Cape Cod has also ticked up recently. In just the last week, according to the Sharktivity app, there were 14 confirmed shark sightings, four unconfirmed sightings, and four other shark detections.

On Thursday alone, there were three confirmed shark sightings on the Cape, one confirmed sighting off the coast of Plymouth, one unconfirmed sighting on the Cape, one unconfirmed sighting off the coast of New Bedford, and two other shark detections.

Atlantic white sharks routinely come to New England in the summer following seals, which are their food source.