Australian Department of FisheriesA beach off the coast of Western Australia is experiencing what appears to be the movie Jaws come to life, in that a bigass shark has been lurking near the beach and it's scaring the s--t out of everybody.
This great white shark, dubbed Joan of Shark by locals (best nickname ever, right?), has been spotted swimming a bit too close to the shore in Albany, Western Australia, forcing the city to close the beach. Experts are claiming that she is the biggest shark of her kind to ever be discovered and electronically tagged, weighing 1.8 tons and measuring at more than 16 feet. Holy. Crap.
A spokesman for the state department said that they believe the shark smelled a dying humpback whale that was beached in the area, and that's why it's been hanging around. Officials have been tracking her movements for weeks and they have been able to monitor Joan of Shark in order to alert residents of her whereabouts.
"Obviously, with that whale incident and because of the distress signals that it would have sent out, it would have attracted sharks and they will probably frequent the beach for the next few days," Martin Kleeman, a spokesman for the state department of fisheries, said. "For the next 10 years, we'll be able to keep a track of her movements, which is going to open up a whole new world. We'll have a better understanding of the large-scale movements of white sharks."
Now here's the obligatory Jaws GIF you've been waiting for, plus some extra ones just because it's Friday:
This turned into a ridiculous shark GIF party and we have zero regrets about it.