Face-to-Face with a Great White off the Coast of Maine

Arthur here, surfacing from the cooler side of the Atlantic. Today’s headline: a National Geographic photographer locked eyes with a great white shark just off Maine — and snapped a history-making photo from only a few feet away.

The Photo That Stunned Even the Shark Photographer

National Geographic explorer and photographer Brian Skerry has spent more than 10,000 hours underwater chasing stories of whales, seals, and sharks. But on a July day in 2025, about 15 miles off Harpswell, Maine, he met a visitor he’d never photographed in those waters before: a great white shark.

A juvenile female, roughly 10 feet long, emerged from the green water beneath the boat. Skerry slipped into the sea and, within moments, found himself just a few feet away from her. For about three minutes, the shark cruised calmly past, mouth slightly open, white belly glowing against the dark water while her reflection shimmered on the surface above.

Then, as quietly as she arrived, she vanished. Later, that split-second encounter would be celebrated as what’s believed to be the first-ever underwater photo of a great white shark off Maine’s coast — and one of National Geographic’s Pictures of the Year.

Why a Great White off Maine Is Such a Big Deal

Great whites have long patrolled the North Atlantic, but for most of modern history they were rarely seen in places like Maine. That’s changing. Tagging projects and shark tracker apps have started to show more white sharks visiting northern waters — from Cape Cod up through New Hampshire, Maine, and into Atlantic Canada.

There are a couple of big reasons:

• Seal comebacks: After decades of protection, seal populations along New England’s coast have rebounded. More seals = more dinner bells ringing for hungry sharks.
• Warming water: The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than almost any other patch of ocean on the planet, which can nudge predators like white sharks to explore farther north and stay longer through the season.

So when Skerry’s shark glided beneath the boat, it wasn’t a “lost monster” from a movie — it was a top predator following prey, temperature, and age-old migration patterns we’re only just starting to map properly.

Awe, Not Panic: What Encounters Like This Really Mean

Stories like this tend to light up headlines with words like “heart-stopping” and “terrifying.” The truth is more balanced. Yes, great whites are powerful predators, and yes, we need to be shark-smart in the water. But scientists keep reminding us of two important facts:

• Shark bites on humans are still rare — even as sightings increase.
• More sharks can be a good sign, hinting that the ocean food web (seals, fish, and apex predators) is recovering after years of overfishing and hunting.

Encounters like Skerry’s give us something we almost never get: a clear, detailed look at a white shark in a place where, until recently, we mostly had fin sightings and tracking pings.

From Maine to Florida: One Long Shark Highway

Here’s the part that loops this story back to your sand: many of the white sharks tagged in the Northwest Atlantic don’t stay in one place. They cruise a huge range, traveling from Florida and the Carolinas up past New England and into Canada, then back south again as seasons change.

That means the ocean in front of a chilly Maine lighthouse and the waves rolling over your local beach are all part of the same migratory highway. Somewhere out there, a shark like the one in Skerry’s photo might be slipping past lobster buoys one month and riding warmer currents far to the south the next.

2025 Shark Activity in Florida: What’s Going On?

Headlines about sharks in Florida have been hard to miss this year. Here’s a quick snapshot of recent 2025 encounters in Florida waters:

• October 2025 – Florida Keys: A man snorkeling near Boca Chita Key was bitten multiple times and needed 27 stitches.
• July 2025 – New Smyrna Beach: A surfer was bitten and hospitalized with non–life-threatening injuries.
• July 2025 – Fort Lauderdale: A shark close to shore led lifeguards to clear the water for about 30 minutes.
• Summer 2025 – Florida Panhandle: A cluster of shark bites left three people hospitalized.
• June 2025 – Fort Lauderdale Beach: A shark spotted near swimmers sent people back to shore.
• May 2025 – Tarpon Springs: Florida Fish and Wildlife biologists caught a great white shark on video offshore.

Why the Extra Activity?

• Warmer water: Heat waves and seasonal warming bring sharks — and the bait fish they hunt — closer to beaches.
• Popular human hotspots: Places like New Smyrna Beach combine shallow sandbars, good surf, and murky water — perfect for surfers and hunting grounds for sharks.
• Healthier food web: Some scientists see more great whites and other sharks as a sign that parts of the ocean food chain (like seals and bait fish) are recovering.

Arthur’s Smart-Swimmer Tips

Shark encounters are still rare compared to how many people swim each day, but it pays to be shark–smart:

• Check lifeguard flags, warnings, and local reports before you go in.
• Avoid murky water where sharks may mistake splashes for prey.
• Swim in groups near a lifeguard, not far out alone.
• Skip dawn and dusk swims — prime hunting hours for many sharks.
• Take off shiny jewelry that can flash like fish scales.
• If you see a shark, leave the water calmly and steadily without splashing.

Arthur’s note: Respect the fin, respect the flags, and you can still enjoy the same waves that sharks, dolphins, and sea turtles call home.

So next time you look out at the Atlantic, imagine this: far beyond the breakers, a young great white glides through greenish water, framed for a heartbeat in a camera’s viewfinder — proof that our ocean is still wild, still changing, and very much alive. And I, Arthur the ever-watchful shark, will be right here to narrate the next chapter.