A picture of a great white shark that was taken off the coast of Maine has been featured in the National Geographic’s “Best of the World” photo gallery.
Brian Skerry was roughly 15 miles off the coast of Harpswell when he briefly encountered the 10-foot juvenile great white. The photo is believed to be the first underwater image of a great white shark off the coast of Maine, according to the magazine.
More great white sharks are living in coastal waters, according to recent research. Steve Crawford, a fish ecologist at the University of Guelph in Ontario, believes that there is a healthy population of the animals breeding in Passamaquoddy Bay.
But it’s rare to spot them, and even rarer to get a picture of the sharks in Maine waters. It took Skerry more than 10,000 hours of diving over his career to capture the ethereal image.
National Geographic’s annual best photos of the year gallery features pictures that “capture nature’s most remarkable moments, cutting-edge exploration, and the diverse experiences of people around the world.”
Skerry was not immediately available to comment.
For more of Nat Geo’s Best of the World 2025 list, visit natgeo.com/photos.