Terrifying moment fisherman hauls in six-foot shark partly bitten off by UNKNOWN PREDATOR
ISLAMORADA, FLORIDA: A fisherman pulled his bait out of the water only to discover that a six-foot shark has bitten off a portion of it. Dave Perkins was fishing with two customers off the coast of Florida, when they decided to reel in a blacktip shark that was stealing their fish.
As it turns out, the shark was injured as well. When the fishermen hauled in their bait, they witnessed the shark swim up to the surface with a massive chunk missing from its body near the fin.
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'It jerked and writhed violently'
Perkins said, "While I was holding the leader to unhook the fish, it jerked and writhed violently. I assumed that the shark was just angry at being manhandled – I didn’t know it was actually the shark being bit until I pulled it closer and saw the wound. I felt intimidated when I saw the bite. I was nervous that it was going to get bitten while I was holding the wire leader. I’ve caught and released nearly 1,000 sharks in my life and nothing like this has ever happened to me before," according to The Mirror.
When the group grabbed the shark, they were off South Florida, not far from Everglades National Park. The crew's horrified reaction is captured on tape as well as the instant the creature's horrible wound becomes visible. The shark is clearly bleeding badly in the video, but it manages to stay alive.
Who was the predator?
Perkins acted swiftly and decisively after the attack, as he feared that the predator responsible might return to attack again. To avoid any further danger, he cut the line as quickly as possible without attempting to retrieve the hook. The 51-year-old said, "It was a bull shark. They are common in our waters and by far the most vicious and aggressive sharks on earth. They are often found in murky waters and will eat just about anything."
Even for a seasoned catch-and-release fisherman like Perkins, it was a sickening experience. He said, "I was hopeful that if I could release it quickly, I might possibly get away and recover from its wound. It wasn’t bitten in its vitals and I’ve seen sharks with horrible scars on them in different stages of healing. I knew it would have zero chance of surviving if it got bitten again while I was trying to wrangle the hook out of its mouth."