‘It’s a great white!’ Video shows 10-foot shark caught off Florida
Things got a little dramatic at Navarre Beach, in the Northwest Florida Panhandle city of Navarre on Tuesday.
A video, first posted by onlooker Alisha Day on her Facebook page, shows a great white shark floating on its back looking in distress off the Navarre Beach Fishing Pier. The fish has a hook in its mouth.
“It’s a great white!” a woman exclaims off camera. “Look at that. Holy s---. Oh my God.”
“Don’t drop the phone,” says a man in the crowd.
“Yeah, I’m holding onto the camera for dear life,” jokes another woman.
The video was picked up by Destin Beach Cams Facebook page.
Some commenters were concerned as the shark appears to be in bad shape.
“Looks like he is dying and trying to beach himself,” wrote one.
Turns out the predator was just tired after an exhausting struggle.
According to the Pensacola News Journal, The True Blue shark fishing team caught the 10-foot, 650-pound male after about a 90-minute fight.
Head fisherman Thomas Thielman told the outlet he was shocked by their catch, the team’s first great white.
“We don’t get that many here. We see sightings of them, but we never caught one,” Thielman said. “Once we realized what it was, that’s when everybody’s eyes just blew up.”
Thielman adding the guys tagged the fish and “got a safe, clean release,” and sent information about the man-eater to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.
In another part of Day’s video, you can see the fishermen on the beach working to tag and release the shark back into the Gulf of Mexico. One man guides the shark into the water by its fin.
“Oh, boys, please be careful,” says a woman off camera.
The shark was apparently unharmed amid all the tumult.
This story was originally published February 27, 2019 at 1:36 PM.
