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Video shows a horde of seals off Chatham

A Norwell man has taken stunning video of the horde of seals that has taken up residence on Monomoy Island, the seal haven off Chatham at the outer elbow of Cape Cod.

Aaron Knight filmed his flight off the Massachusetts coast Sunday. He said he’s been watching the seals there in the past few years, and he’s never seen so many.

“They used to be in harems and small chunks dotted down the beach, but this year ... it’s just astonishing,” he said. “It’s an infinite forever stretch of seals.”

The video has gotten nearly 200,000 views and more than 2,700 shares on Facebook, Knight said.

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Gray, harp, ringed, and hooded seals often hang around Cape Cod, according to the Center for Coastal Studies based in Provincetown.

Knight, who has been a pilot for 10 years, sometimes takes family and friends with him to fly over the coast and see the seals.

“It’s a neat attraction to fly around and check them out, but now it’s scary,” he said.

The seals are a favorite food for great white sharks, which have also been spotted in the area.

“It’s a continuous blubber buffet for the great whites,” said Knight.

The video made waves on the Internet the same week that a seal has been spotted in the Charles River, between Boston and Cambridge.


Mina Corpuz can be reached at mina.corpuz@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @mlcorpuz.