Great White Shark Startles Fisherman, Stealing Catch From His Line

A fishing charter in New Zealand received the shock of a lifetime when a juvenile great white shark struck at their catch, ripping it away just as one of the anglers pulled the massive fish to the side of their boat.

The angler had set out with Captain Bucko’s Fishing charters, according to Grind TV, and was reeling in a large fish as another person on the boat began filming him. As the video unfolds, the fisherman strains to bring his catch aboard, pole bent over to the water as the fish comes to the surface. It quickly becomes apparent, however, that a shark has already taken a bite out of the unlucky animal. The guide voices his surprise before those on the boat are treated to a face-to-face encounter with the great white responsible for mauling their catch.

[Warning: Adult Language]

With amazing speed, the juvenile white shark rises from the depths, striking at what remains of the angler’s catch and ripping it away from the line. The stunned group reacts with amazement, as the shark splashes once with its powerful tail near the boat’s engine, before disappearing into the depths with its prey.

“I thought he was coming in,” the angler says, referring to the boat as his eyes widen.

“I think we’ll go in and watch this video,” the guide asserts. “Change of endings. That was pretty awesome.”

The shark was initially identified as a bronze whaler on the charter’s Facebook page, where the video was posted. Several observers, however, examined the predator more closely, and were able to identify it as a juvenile white shark, based on the shape of its nose.

A great white shark #SouthAfrica – Telegraph http://t.co/ZyxM8m6ZNY pic.twitter.com/go4L3pcgIX

— Mark Boardman (@BlogYourWorld) March 16, 2015

The incident took place in the Bay of Islands, located in the northern part of New Zealand. As the Inquisitr has previously reported, white sharks are common in the region, and the North Island in particular is thought to harbor a nursery for juvenile great whites.

In January, researchers spotted 11 juvenile white sharks in Kaipara Harbor over the course of two days. As the New Zealand Herald points out, the gathering represented the largest concentration of white sharks ever documented on the North Island. Researchers were able to tag several of the sharks, tracking their movements around the island.

Name: The great white shark Scientific name: (Carcharodon carcharias) pic.twitter.com/Em9UYd846s

— WWA Animal Awareness (@WWA_Animals) March 14, 2015

Though the anglers lost their catch, Captain Bucko’s Fishing charters noted on Facebook that the juvenile great white shark was the first of the species they had ever observed in the region.

[Image: Captain Bucko’s Fishing charters via Facebook]