20-foot shark trails behind tiny boat on Block Island, sparking ‘Jaws' comparison: ‘There's a shark in the pond!'
Local Jen Seebeck recorded the humongous dorsal and tail fins of the blood-sniffer cutting through the water on Memorial Day while chowing down at local eatery Dead Eye Dicks located on Great Salt Pond, The Atlantic Shark Institute reported.
A pair of boaters motored away from the massive shark that was in the saltwater pond on Block Island.
The Atlantic Shark Institute
The sight of the toothy predator in the small body of water brought to mind the classic film 'Jaws,' which is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Advertisement
'There's a shark in the pond!' one person could be heard shouting in the video, a reference to a line in the Steven Spielberg classic.
Video showed one small boat motoring in the opposite direction of the quick-moving shark that was of an unknown species, according to the Institute. It appeared to be about 20 feet long, according to Boston.com.
Advertisement
'Sharks are arriving in Rhode Island daily as water temperatures continue to rise and more and more species of shark find them suitable to their liking,' the Atlantic Shark Institute wrote in their post.
'Hopefully this shark will find its way out of Great Salt Pond soon and continue on its way!' the institute added.
Block Island was recently named one of the 10 best summer destinations in the United States, according to USA Today.
Warmer waters off the coast of Long Island are also drawing in the man-eating fish.
Advertisement
A monster Great White Shark was spotted along the shores of Montauk, which is a popular feeding ground for the toothsome predators, earlier this month, drone footage showed.
Experts said the sighting, though a bit early in the season, was normal for this time of year.
As summer draws more fish to the shores, experts say sharks will follow, but chances of an unwanted encounter are low.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Insider
8 hours ago
- Business Insider
Alex Warren's 'Ordinary' actually is the song of the summer — but nobody wants to admit it
Where is this year's song of the summer? It's the question that's haunted road trippers and pool partiers for months now. But like so many low-stakes mysteries, the answer has been hiding in plain sight (or, in this case, earshot) all along. If we're going with cold, hard facts — Billboard chart data — there's one song that's dominated the airwaves as the weather has warmed. It's just that a soaring love ballad a 24-year-old TikToker wrote about his wife is not exactly the ideal soundtrack for your day at the beach. Released in February, Alex Warren's "Ordinary" took a few months to take off, becoming a bona fide commercial juggernaut by June, when it ascended to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It's remained atop the all-genre chart for nine weeks so far, and continues to dominate Billboard's Songs of the Summer chart, where it hasn't budged from its No. 1 position since Memorial Day. Though it makes every attempt to sound momentous, "Ordinary" is a love song that's true to its name. Dedicated to Warren's wife, Kouvr Annon, the song uses vaguely spiritual lyrics to describe their connection. His vocals backed by hymnal echoes and a pounding drum line, Warren insists "the angels up in the clouds are jealous" of his marital bliss and compares his wife to a sanctuary, a vineyard, and a sculptor. If the song's theme of divine love wasn't clear enough, the couple also costars in the music video, and Warren later released a "wedding version" of the song paired with footage from their real-life nuptials. That the song is generically gooey has worked to its advantage in the airplay department. "Ordinary" owes much of its longevity to companies like iHeartMedia, America's biggest radio network, which allocates tens of thousands of spins to the song each week. In its most recent week atop the Hot 100, "Ordinary" tallied over 73 million radio airplay audience impressions, according to Billboard, compared to only 12.4 million streams and 6,000 copies sold. The song's lack of specificity also makes it a broadly appealing soundtrack for lovey-dovey moments on TikTok, where both versions of "Ordinary" have been used in millions of videos with billions of cumulative views. Annon's own uses of the song, usually featuring sweet moments with Warren, frequently collect over 1 million likes. Please help BI improve our Business, Tech, and Innovation coverage by sharing a bit about your role — it will help us tailor content that matters most to people like you. Continue By providing this information, you agree that Business Insider may use this data to improve your site experience and for targeted advertising. By continuing you agree that you accept the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . Call it the home court advantage: As a former YouTuber who joined Hype House, a flashy collective for big-name TikTokers, in 2020, Warren learned and then perfected the art of getting engagement. He and Annon briefly lived in the Los Angeles mansion together, constantly creating content, orchestrating David Dobrik-style pranks, and sharing glimpses of their lives together; Warren described the experience as "college, but for social media." "It helped me learn how to create content that resonates with an audience and can captivate people," he told Variety. Warren's self-conscious positioning as America's top new "wife guy" offers the media a tidy narrative to push while reporting on the song's success — and helps cement "Ordinary" as a favorite song choice for romantic montages and relationship content across the internet. But the differential between the song's commercial utility and its artistic value has perplexed critics and fans alike. "Genuinely WHO is listening to this," reads a recent tweet with over 27,000 likes. Even r/popheads, a Reddit community for recreational pop scholars whose self-appointed mission is to take the merits of the genre seriously, is full of cold contempt for the song's dominance. "I don't think you can deeply hate the song by itself," one commenter wrote, "because it's so fucking boring." Rolling Stone's Larisha Paul coined the phrase "'The Voice' Audition Core" to characterize the musical formula that "Ordinary" follows: ideal for soundtracking a throwaway emotional moment on reality TV, but devoid of any real personality. Indeed, Warren performed the song on the "Love Is Blind" season eight reunion special, slotting easily into a generic vision of happily ever after literally accompanied by a montage of couples. genuinely WHO is listening to this — kaitlyn⋆. 𐙚 ˚ (@kateawaycar) August 4, 2025 Still, there's no denying that "Ordinary" is the summer's defining hit. Remaining atop the Hot 100 for over two months is no small feat, and even as late-season challengers have emerged — most recently in the form of a fictional K-pop group from a Netflix film — there isn't enough time before the autumnal equinox for another song to challenge Warren's reign. It's just a shame that many excellent summertime jams actually have been released this year, they just lacked the radio push or market power to challenge "Ordinary" at the top of the charts. Addison Rae is Warren's fellow former TikToker-turned-singer, but the similarities end there; her cool-girl collaborators and creative curiosity resulted in a debut album, "Addison," that toes the line between nostalgic and eccentric. (The appropriately named "Summer Forever" is a standout.) Lorde's latest album, "Virgin," includes gems like "Shapeshifter" and "Favorite Daughter," which wrap arresting lyrics in melodic, highly accessible packages, the ghost of last year's " Brat summer" hovering on the margins. Care for something a little less personal, a little more irreverent? Tinashe and Disco Lines have you covered with the freshly remixed "No Broke Boys." And forget song of the summer, Haim's "Relationships" may be the song of the year. Danielle Haim and her sisters manage to spin the agony of indecision into flippant, funky magic. As the season winds down, a new Taylor Swift album draws closer, and the charts begin to change shape, may "Ordinary" serve as a reminder that summer trends may disappoint or underwhelm — but they never last forever.
Business Insider
11 hours ago
- Business Insider
Alex Warren's 'Ordinary' actually is the song of the summer, but nobody wants to admit it
Where is this year's song of the summer? It's the question that's haunted road trippers and pool partiers for months now. But like so many low-stakes mysteries, the answer has been hiding in plain sight (or, in this case, earshot) all along. If we're going with cold, hard facts — Billboard chart data — there's one song that's dominated the airwaves as the weather has warmed. It's just that a soaring love ballad a 24-year-old TikToker wrote about his wife is not exactly the ideal soundtrack for your day at the beach. Released in February, Alex Warren's "Ordinary" took a few months to take off, becoming a bona fide commercial juggernaut by June, when it ascended to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It's remained atop the all-genre chart for nine weeks so far, and continues to dominate Billboard's Songs of the Summer chart, where it hasn't budged from its No. 1 position since Memorial Day. Though it makes every attempt to sound momentous, "Ordinary" is a love song that's true to its name. Dedicated to Warren's wife, Kouvr Annon, the song uses vaguely spiritual lyrics to describe their connection. His vocals backed by hymnal echoes and a pounding drum line, Warren insists "the angels up in the clouds are jealous" of his marital bliss and compares his wife to a sanctuary, a vineyard, and a sculptor. If the song's theme of divine love wasn't clear enough, the couple also costars in the music video, and Warren later released a "wedding version" of the song paired with footage from their real-life nuptials. That the song is generically gooey has worked to its advantage in the airplay department. "Ordinary" owes much of its longevity to companies like iHeartMedia, America's biggest radio network, which allocates tens of thousands of spins to the song each week. In its most recent week atop the Hot 100, "Ordinary" tallied over 73 million radio airplay audience impressions, according to Billboard, compared to only 12.4 million streams and 6,000 copies sold. The song's lack of specificity also makes it a broadly appealing soundtrack for lovey-dovey moments on TikTok, where both versions of "Ordinary" have been used in millions of videos with billions of cumulative views. Annon's own uses of the song, usually featuring sweet moments with Warren, frequently collect over 1 million likes. Call it the home court advantage: As a former YouTuber who joined Hype House, a flashy collective for big-name TikTokers, in 2020, Warren learned and then perfected the art of getting engagement. He and Annon briefly lived in the Los Angeles mansion together, constantly creating content, orchestrating David Dobrik-style pranks, and sharing glimpses of their lives together; Warren described the experience as "college, but for social media." "It helped me learn how to create content that resonates with an audience and can captivate people," he told Variety. Warren's self-conscious positioning as America's top new "wife guy" offers the media a tidy narrative to push while reporting on the song's success — and helps cement "Ordinary" as a favorite song choice for romantic montages and relationship content across the internet. But the differential between the song's commercial utility and its artistic value has perplexed critics and fans alike. "Genuinely WHO is listening to this," reads a recent tweet with over 27,000 likes. Even r/popheads, a Reddit community for recreational pop scholars whose self-appointed mission is to take the merits of the genre seriously, is full of cold contempt for the song's dominance. "I don't think you can deeply hate the song by itself," one commenter wrote, "because it's so fucking boring." Rolling Stone's Larisha Paul coined the phrase "'The Voice' Audition Core" to characterize the musical formula that "Ordinary" follows: ideal for soundtracking a throwaway emotional moment on reality TV, but devoid of any real personality. Indeed, Warren performed the song on the "Love Is Blind" season eight reunion special, slotting easily into a generic vision of happily ever after literally accompanied by a montage of couples. genuinely WHO is listening to this — kaitlyn⋆. 𐙚 ˚ (@kateawaycar) August 4, 2025 Still, there's no denying that "Ordinary" is the summer's defining hit. Remaining atop the Hot 100 for over two months is no small feat, and even as late-season challengers have emerged — most recently in the form of a fictional K-pop group from a Netflix film — there isn't enough time before the autumnal equinox for another song to challenge Warren's reign. It's just a shame that many excellent summertime jams actually have been released this year, they just lacked the radio push or market power to challenge "Ordinary" at the top of the charts. Addison Rae is Warren's fellow former TikToker-turned-singer, but the similarities end there; her cool-girl collaborators and creative curiosity resulted in a debut album, "Addison," that toes the line between nostalgic and eccentric. (The appropriately named "Summer Forever" is a standout.) Lorde's latest album, "Virgin," includes gems like "Shapeshifter" and "Favorite Daughter," which wrap arresting lyrics in melodic, highly accessible packages, the ghost of last year's " Brat summer" hovering on the margins. Care for something a little less personal, a little more irreverent? Tinashe and Disco Lines have you covered with the freshly remixed "No Broke Boys." And forget song of the summer, Haim's "Relationships" may be the song of the year. Danielle Haim and her sisters manage to spin the agony of indecision into flippant, funky magic. As the season winds down, a new Taylor Swift album draws closer, and the charts begin to change shape, may "Ordinary" serve as a reminder that summer trends may disappoint or underwhelm — but they never last forever.
Gizmodo
11 hours ago
- Gizmodo
Does Steven Spielberg's ‘AI: Artificial Intelligence' Play Differently Today?
Rewatching Steven Spielberg's 2001 film AI: Artificial Intelligence, it feels as plausible as ever, but also more misguided. In 2001, AI was barely a thought in everyday life. It was the thing that destroyed the world in Terminator, and still a lofty goal in tech circles. Today, as the technology continues to grow and dominate daily conversation in almost every way, you may expect to watch the film and have a slightly new perspective. Some change in insight. Instead, the film falters as Spielberg's views on his titular technology take a backseat to a story unsure of what it wants to be. The movie's flaws shine brighter than ever before, even as its world becomes increasingly familiar and likely. But, maybe, there is more to it than meets the (A) eye. Based on a short story by Brian Aldiss and developed in large part from work previously done by the late Stanley Kubrick, AI is set in an undefined future after the icecaps have melted and destroyed all coastal cities. As a result, society has changed drastically, with certain resources becoming increasingly important and scarce. That's why robots, which don't need to eat or drink, have become so crucial. Tech companies are always looking ahead, though, and inventor Allen Hobby (William Hurt) thinks he's figured out the next step. He hopes to create an artificially intelligent robot child who can love a parent just as a normal child would. Hobby sees true emotion as the logical next step in robotic integration into human life, and about two years later, he believes he has achieved it. The first act of AI then follows David (Haley Joel Osment), a prototype child robot with the ability to love, as he attempts to help two parents, Monica (Frances O'Connor) and Henry (Sam Robards). Monica and Henry have a son, Martin, but he's been in a coma for about five years. Assuming Martin will pass away, Henry is chosen to bring David home. Initially, Monica and Henry treat David very coldly, and rightfully so. He's weird. He's creepy. He does not act human in any way. So, when Monica decides to keep him and 'imprint' on him, it feels like a bit of a shock. And this is the first of many places AI today just doesn't quite get things right. We learn that David can love whomever he's programmed to imprint on, but that it's irreversible. So, if for some reason the family doesn't want him anymore, he has to be destroyed, not reprogrammed. Which feels like a pretty big design flaw, does it not? David's deep-seated desire to be loved by Monica is crucial to the story, but watching it now, it feels almost silly that a company wouldn't have the ability to wipe the circuits clean and start it again. Also, the notion that any parent would want to have a child who stays a child forever simply feels off. Isn't the joy of parenting watching your kids grow up and discover the world? Well, David would never do that. He'd just be there, forever, making you coffee and pretending he loves you with the same, never-ending intensity. Which is a little creepy, right? The beginning of AI has very distinct horror vibes that feel even more prominent now than they did in 2001. But, clearly, this was the intention. Spielberg wants to keep the characters and audience on their toes. After two decades of killer robot movies, though, it's even more unmistakable and obvious. That unsettled tone makes it difficult to feel any connection to these characters, at least at the start. Eventually, Monica and Henry's son miraculously recovers, comes home, and develops a rivalry with David. The two clash, and, instead of returning David to the company to be destroyed, Monica leaves him in the woods. Which feels so much worse! Truly, it's irredeemable. When an animal is sick beyond aid, the merciful thing is to let them go, not throw them in the woods where they will scream in pain forever. But that's what Monica does to David. You hate her, you feel for him, and it's weird. From there, AI gets even weirder. David meets Gigolo Joe (Jude Law), an artificially intelligent sex robot who has way more emotion and humanity than the ultra-advanced David (the same goes for David's low-tech teddy bear sidekick, Teddy, the best part of the movie). The two traverse a world that has either become disgusted with machines taking over their lives or fully embraced it. It's an interesting dichotomy, one brought to life by wild production design such as the 'Flesh Fair,' where humans watch robots be destroyed for fun, and 'Rogue City,' which is basically AI Las Vegas. And yet, these scenes only touch on larger concepts of what AI means and what it has done to society. Joe delivers a monologue about humans' distrust of technology that feels poignant and thoughtful, but then it's largely forgotten. The ideas are there, but not crucial to what's happening around them. What stands out about all of this, especially from a modern viewpoint, is how Spielberg's vision of AI is still so distant. Things in the movie are well beyond what we have today. Even with modern chatbots, self-driving cars, generative AI, and the like, everything in the movie is clearly science fiction. Artificial intelligence in Spielberg's world isn't special. It's been around for so long; it's already been monetized, exploited, embraced, and rejected. One scene, however, does ring truer now than it did in 2001. As Joe and David look for the Blue Fairy that can turn him into a real boy (more on that in a second), they go to 'Dr. Know,' a store where an AI Albert Einstein, voiced by Robin Williams, can search through the entirety of human knowledge to answer any question for you. It's basically ChatGPTat its highest form, and in this world, it's just a cheap attraction in a strip mall. Dr. Know is a crucial plot device in the film because it puts Joe and David back on the track of the Blue Fairy, a character from Pinocchio who turned that character into a real boy, and whom David believes is real and can do the same for him. This is another disconnect that's hard to get your head around. We're continuously told how advanced David is supposed to be technologically, and yet he exhibits none of that mentally. He only shows the emotions and mind of a small child. There's never any hint that he'll learn or develop past that. That he'll evolve in any way. He's the most advanced robot in the world, but can't grasp that Pinocchio isn't real. So, we're left confused about what he believes, what he doesn't, his potential, and his overall purpose. Nevertheless, when Joe and David ask Dr. Know about how the Blue Fairy can turn him into a real boy, the program somehow understands this request and sends them on a journey to Manhattan, which has been lost under rising seas. There, David finds Hobby, his creator, and we learn Hobby and his team have been monitoring and even subtly seeding David's adventure to get him to this place. Which feels incredibly forced on multiple levels, but also essential to the big reveal. To this point, AI has been pretty all over the place. Cautionary, brutal, near-horror movie. Wild, cross-country adventure. Whimsical fairy tale. But finally, Hobby explains the film's central drive. Having completed this adventure, David is the first robot to actually chase his dreams. To act on his own self-motivation, not that of a human, and that's a huge jump ahead for artificial intelligence in this world. It's a fascinating revelation ripe for exploration. And yet, it immediately gets forgotten as Joe helps David escape and complete his journey to find the Blue Fairy, which he settles on being a submerged carnival attraction at Coney Island. Now, I hadn't seen AI in probably 20 years, and, for some reason, this is the ending I remember. David, stuck underwater, looking at the Blue Fairy forever. His dream, kind of, achieved. But that's not the ending. I forgot that the movie had about 20 more minutes left. We jump ahead 2,000 years. The world has ended, and advanced aliens are here studying our past. They find David buried in the ice, the last being on the planet with any connection to living humans, and, to make him happy, they bring his mom back for one day. The happiest day of his life. Roll credits. It's a touching ending, but it also speaks to how all over the map the movie plays in 2025. Basically, the movie is a horror, fairy tale, social commentary, and sci-fi adventure with heart… but only sort of. There's no real reason why David's mom can't be around for more than one day. It's just an arbitrary rule the aliens tell us. However, it does hammer home the film's ultimate message about the importance of love and how emotions are what make humans so special. A message that works completely independently of anything regarding artificial intelligence. In fact, calling the movie AI in 2025 is almost a conundrum beyond the movie itself. Upon release, most of us assumed the title just referred to David and the robots. But now, maybe I see that's not the case. AI in the movie is so not the point, maybe calling it that is a commentary on human intelligence itself, or the lack thereof. We certainly take for granted the things we inherently have as people. In the end, I did not care for AI: Artificial Intelligence as much as I did when it came out. At the time, I found it kind of profound and brilliant. Now I find it sort of messy and underwhelming, with a few hints of genius. But, there are a lot of good ideas here, and as the world of the movie becomes increasingly recognizable, I'd imagine another 25 years is likely to re-contextualize it all over again. AI: Artificial Intelligence is not currently streaming anywhere, but is available for purchase or rent. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
