Overview

• A local diner patron filmed a roughly 20-foot shark cruising inside Great Salt Pond on Memorial Day before it left the harbor.
• Atlantic Shark Institute experts, including executive director Jon Dodd, confirmed the visitor was a harmless filter-feeding basking shark rather than a great white.
• The institute reports that the shark has since exited the pond and returned to open waters off Block Island.
• Daily shark sightings along Rhode Island’s coast are on the rise as seasonal warming makes the region more attractive to multiple shark species.
• Block Island’s status as a top U.S. summer destination has heightened local attention on marine safety, even though basking sharks pose minimal threat to swimmers.