A monster-sized shark has been spotted off the US coast in the state of Rhode Island.

The 20-foot (6 metres) basking shark was seen in the Great Salt Pond earlier this week.

It was captured on video by local Jen Seebeck before it was posted to the Atlantic Shark Institute’s social pages on Wednesday.

The video has been viewed 4 million times, with the size of the fish drawing comparisons to the movie “Jaws”.

“Clearly a very large shark and reminiscent of a scene from Jaws on this 50th anniversary of the film,” the post on Atlantic Shark reads.

“Sharks are making their way to Rhode Island every day as water temperatures climb, attracting a greater variety of shark species that find the conditions appealing.”

Although the shark in Jaws is a great white, this 20-foot-long shark seems to be a basking shark, according to Jon Dodd, the executive director of the Atlantic Shark Institute, speaking to local media.

“They are harmless filter-feeders but that wouldn’t matter much if you were in the water when one came cruising by,” he said.

The species are often mistaken for one another, but the fin on a basking shark is more rounded, while a great white’s is pointed.

Basking sharks are plankton-eating creatures, they don’t eat other fish.

The sharks are the second-largest fish in the world, and can grow up to 40-feet (12 metres), according to the University of Florida.

They are known to be gentle and non-aggressive towards humans.