Block Island lies off the coast of Rhode Island. In the center of Block Island is the Block Island Salt Pond, which is more like a large cove. It is a mecca for boaters, fishermen, and recreational enthusiasts. It isn’t the type of place you would expect to see a giant shark, but on Memorial Day, that is exactly what people saw.
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The Atlantic Shark Institute states that resident Jen Seebeck recorded the video. Diners at Dead Eye Dicks restaurant noticed the dorsal fin slicing through the pond behind a small boat. Lines from the movie “Jaws” sprang to mind for several patrons, and someone says, “There’s a shark in the pond!”
The salt pond connects to the ocean via a channel, and periodically, sharks will wander into the pond. In the comment section under the video, all the keyboard scholars are busy with their discussion. The main argument is whether this giant shark is the mostly harmless basking shark or a great white shark. WFSB News positively identified it as a basking shark.
The most significant differences between the basking and great white sharks are the mouth, what they eat, and how they feed. The great white is a predator who will eat almost anything that doesn’t eat it first.
The docile basking shark prefers plankton, which it harvests by swimming with its mouth open. Water, plankton, and small fish are collected, and the water is filtered out through the gill flaps. The easiest visual identifying feature between the two species is the dorsal fins. The great white has a sharp, defined dorsal fin, while the basking shark has a more rounded tip on its dorsal fin.
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