Enormous, rarely seen basking shark appears off Cape Cod; ‘Holy cow, look at this!’

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Enormous, rarely seen basking shark appears off Cape Cod; ‘Holy cow, look at this!’

Sometimes during whale-watching expeditions, another type of creature grabs the spotlight merely by showing up.

The accompanying footage shows a massive basking shark alongside a Cape Cod whale-watching vessel on Thursday, and the excitement was palpable in the naturalist’s voice.

“This is incredible! This is an enormous shark, folks!” the Dolphin Fleet Whale Watch naturalist informs her astonished passengers via microphone. “Holy cow, look at this!

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Basking sharks are the planet’s second-largest living shark and fish, next to whale sharks, and can measure 40 feet.

The migratory, filter-feeding sharks are categorized as “Vulnerable” throughout their range and “Endangered” in the northeast Atlantic, and sightings are rare off Cape Cod.

When these prehistoric-looking behemoths are spotted, they usually have their mouths agape to take in water and filter out zooplankton.

According to the

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, “Many tales of sea serpents and monsters have originated from sightings of basking sharks cruising single file, snout to tail, near the surface of the water.”

The lucky passengers aboard the Dolphin Fleet Whale Watch vessel saw three basking sharks on Thursday. The company has promised more images and video footage via social media.

This article originally appeared on For The Win:

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