Thousands of seals have been spotted at a beach on Monomoy Island in southern Massachusetts. Local media said the island is an ideal habitat for seals, hence the large numbers. Pilot Aaron Knight captured the footage on 10 April as he was flying over the island off Chatham, Massachusetts.

Ive never seen anything like it in my life, just miles and miles of blubber, a continuous line of over-population, said Knight, speaking to local news network WCVB.

Cynthia Wigren, the executive director of Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, said the video showed the public what researchers have long-known: Monomoy is an ideal sanctuary for seals and therefore a perfect habitat for their predators – sharks. Some 140 great whites were detected along the cape last summer and the new footage has raised concerns about an increase in the number of sharks this year.