Shark!
Something that strikes fear into the heart of every summer beach-goer is hearing that word. Hold on though, you won't need a bigger boat just yet. While most consider drones to be an invasion of privacy and more than a little creepy, it seems that two basking sharks off the coast of Cape Ann, about 25 miles north of Boston don't seem to mind.
On May 15, 2015, Gloucester resident Martin DelVecchio, a devout drone hobbyist, was tipped off by a friend that two basking sharks had been spotted off the coast of Bass Rocks in Gloucester. While Del Vecchio has lived in the seaside fishing town of Gloucester for his whole life, this was the first time he had seen basking sharks, even though they are not uncommon at this time of the year.
Basking sharks may look fierce and indeed they are quite large, however unlike other kinds of sharks, they are harmless. Basking sharks are "filter feeders", not even possessing the rows and rows of deadly teeth like its much scarier distant cousin, the Great White Shark. Second only to the whale shark in size, basking sharks can grow up to 25 feet long and weigh up to five tons.
Del Vecchio told local NBC affiliate WHDH, "It's probably the most excited I've been flying my drone since the very first time I flew it," he said. "I've lived here 19 years and I've never seen a basking shark. It's a really cool thing to see and it's a really cool thing to be able to fly over and see up close."
Check out this video to see the footage captured of these amazing sea creatures.
Source: Boston Globe, WHDH-TV, YouTube
