Beach evacuated after sighting of 'Jaws'-sized great white shark

ADELAIDE, Australia, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- A great white shark estimated to measure 20-23 feet long prompted the evacuation of an Australian beach and drew comparisons to the gargantuan shark from Jaws.

The Shark Alerts South Australia group on Facebook shared a helicopter crew's photos of the massive great white shark off the coast of the Marino Rocks beach in the Adelaide, South Australia, area Sunday afternoon.

The helicopter crew estimated the shark's length at 23 feet -- only two feet short of the fictional shark from Steven Spielberg's 1975 thriller Jaws.

"It's the biggest I've ever seen as a crew member in the Westpac chopper. We put it down as 7m [23 feet] the photo really doesn't do it justice," Shark Alerts South Australia quoted a helicopter crew member as saying.

The group said Marino Rocks beach was evacuated and events planned for Sunday were canceled as a result of the sighting.

If the estimates of the massive shark's length are correct, it could unseat Deep Blue, a 20-foot great white shark cited as the largest ever caught on camera.