Family on boat reluctant to swim after spotting great white shark

A family is calling it a 'thrill of a lifetime' after they captured video of that they believe was a great white shark swimming right next to their boat.

It happened on Cape Code Bay off of the coast of Wellfleet, Massachusetts. The Maitino family says that they were on a boating excursion on Sunday when they spotted a large fin pointing above the water's surface. They soon realized that it was a shark.

Stunned by what they were seeing, Al and Becky Maitino, along with their three kids and a 14-year-old family friend, took videos of the shark. They enjoyed every moment of the close encounter.

The family says that while they enjoyed the encounter with the shark, recent reports of shark sightings in the area have made them reluctant to go swimming in the water.

Al said that "It was, you know, beautiful out and warm. And in those type of days we would normally jump in that very same area we were fishing without hesitation. Uh, but clearly in this day and age we, uh, we are very reluctant to do so."

Meanwhile, on Sunday, two separate shark sightings prompted the closures of Coast Guard Beach and Nauset Beach for several hours in the outer cape. There was also an unconfirmed shark sighting on the North Shore that resulted in the closure of Crane's Beach in Ipswich.

WFXT contributed to this story.