Great white sharks in New Jersey may be a thing

Shark sightings aren't uncommon, but the elusive great white shark is most certainly the rarest for a close-up view or encounter along New Jersey's coast.

A possible great white shark was captured in photos according to Pearson's Pursuit Inshore Fishing social media post on Sunday.

According to one news source, the fishermen were said to have gone out to the Sea Isle Ridge, approximately 22 miles away from the Atlantic City shoreline on a fishing mission with "hopes of some bonito or mackerel" but instead they encountered what one described as "the biggest shark of my life."

The fishermen estimated that it was a 15ft-ish great white that "came up looking for a lunch time snack." Although, reports say, it could have also been a similar shark such as a basking shark that can grow up to 26 feet long.

There have been two other very recent encounters reported along the Jersey Shore line, one by Mike Cavallo and his daughter Kaylee who got a close-up view while on a fishing charter boat about four miles off the coast of Point Pleasant Beach on June 2.

The second encounter on June 12, happened 12 miles off Atlantic City, when fisherman Travis Bogin is reported to have caught and released a 5 1/2 foot juvenile great white shark.