A drone captured a great white shark swimming just a few hundred feet off Montauk’s coast, marking the earliest and closest-to-shore sighting in recent years. The footage, taken at 8:30 a.m. on May 12 by drone pilot Joanna L. Steidle, shows the shark moving at a leisurely 3.5 mph in clear green waters.
Steidle, who has been flying over these waters for eight years, wrote on X, “This is the earliest shark spotting I have had in a season and it is also the closest to shore I have spotted a great white.”
Experts, including Greg Metzger from the South Fork Natural History Museum & Nature Center, emphasize that such sightings are typical for this time of year. Metzger stated, “It is very, very expected this time of the year that the white sharks are moving through the Long Island waters.” He estimated the shark to be a juvenile, approximately 8 feet in length, and noted that it did not appear to be hunting.
The increase in shark sightings is attributed to several factors, including the use of advanced technology like drones, a rise in shark prey populations due to conservation efforts, and warmer waters from climate change. Metzger explained, “That shark might’ve been swimming through Long Island waters for the last 15 years, but it just wasn’t seen by a drone. We have more and more drone pilots out there, there’s more people with cell phones. As soon as those pictures are taken, they’re put on the internet and so there’s a kind of a sense that there’s a lot more sharks.”
Despite the uptick in visibility, experts affirm that the threat to humans remains minimal. Metzger reassured, “This is very common. There’s not anything to be alarmed of or about. It’s just this time of the year.”
