Great white shark attacks seal near Nantucket beach

On Sunday morning, September 20, 2026, a great white shark was filmed attacking and feeding on a seal just meters away from the shore at Great Point Beach in Nantucket, Massachusetts. The incident was captured on video by local residents Carrie Drayton and Tyler O’Brien around 10:30 a.m. The witnesses observed the seal fleeing the water before the shark appeared, leaving the water filled with blood. They estimated the shark’s length to be between 3.5 and 4.3 meters.

Gregory Skomal, a senior fisheries scientist at the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, confirmed the predator seen in the footage is a great white shark. He explained that the presence of these sharks in Nantucket waters is common during seasonal migrations, as local seals serve as a primary food source for the population. While the proximity of the attack to the shoreline startled onlookers, the incident highlights the normal predatory behavior of the species in this marine ecosystem.