THIS is the terrifying moment paddleboarders in the “Jaws” country come dangerously close to a gargantuan great white shark.

The creature swam just feet away from two pals enjoying the waters in Massachusetts on the Fourth of July.

College students Margaret Bowles and Maddie Cronin were splashing around on their paddleboards off Woods Hole on the southwest end of Cape Cod – when a terrifying great white shark emerged.

The beast’s eight-inch fin is captured in an image protruding from the water, panicking the two pals.

Margaret is heard exclaiming in footage as she desperately jumps on her board for safety: “Oh!”

The pair were in such disbelief at what they saw, they had to look back at Maddie’s pictures and videos to confirm their suspicions.

Margaret’s terrified face is captured in a picture, while the sea beast’s fin is seen popping out of the water a mere few feet away.

She told WHDH: “I see this big fin pop up next to her, it’s like eight inches out of the water sort of fleshy, gray and I’m like ‘Oh my goodness that’s a shark, we got to go.’

“Once we were back to shore, I was kind of like no way, they aren’t here.

“It took a second to register that was what happened but it was a complete surprise.

“I’ve spent time teaching marine biology here and swimming in the ocean. I certainly never expected for a great white shark to wander my way.

“I always operated under the assumption that there were no sharks in Woods Hole.

“I would have friends down and they’d ask, ‘Are there sharks here?’ And I’d be like, ‘No, no way.'”

The students managed to keep their “cool” and scrambled back to shore without encountering any trouble.

After returning safely, the two joked that the shark had just suffered some direction trouble and got lost in the waters.

They named the beast “Steve”.

The shocking image showing the fin was sent off to experts, with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries confirming the friends had in fact come face-to-face with a great white shark in Buzzards Bay.

The shark encounter hasn’t put the friends off returning to the beach however.

Margaret added: “I’ve already gone swimming since then. I love the ocean. What happened was incredibly unlikely.”

What she did confess though is she is temporarily stopping wearing her wetsuit in the water.

Margaret said: “That seems unadvisable at the time.

“Hopefully ‘Steve’ moves on and I’ll get right back to it.”

The shark sighting off the Stoney Beach shore is the first in the area in over a whopping two decades.

The last confirmed sighting of a great white in Buzzards Bay was back in 2004, Cape and Islands reports.