BOSTON (AP) - A conservation group reports this year's first ocean sighting of a great white shark off Cape Cod.
The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy says it spotted on Saturday a female great white shark 12 feet to 15 feet long.
Three conservancy board members approached the shark from a boat about one-quarter of a mile from Nauset Beach on the Orleans, Massachusetts, shoreline. The crew is studying the North Atlantic great white population and located the shark after their plane discovered it from above.
The year's first official ocean sighting was two weeks earlier than last year's. Last week, a tuna fisherman spotted a 16 - 18 foot great white shark swimming near his boat about six miles from Provincetown in Cape Cod Bay, and posted a video of the shark, which went viral online.
A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration study recently reported that the great white population is surging off the Eastern U.S. and Canada after years of decline.
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