Fisherman Lands Massive Shark In Australia After Two Hour Fight
An Australian fisherman brought a massive bronze whaler shark to shore following a brutal two hour fight in which the predator dragged him along the beach, and he managed to document the battle before releasing the animal back into the surf.
Jack Jacobs noted that the shark was the catch of a lifetime, according to the Daily Mail, in an eight-minute-long clip posted to YouTube that depicted his fight with the predator. Jacobs utilized a custom-made shark rod to land the 200 kg shark, a goal he had pursued for several years. Baiting his hook with a piece of eagle ray, Jacobs fought the shark for several hours as a crowd of onlookers gathered in anticipation along the South Australian beach.
[Warning: Adult Language]
“It took several long powerful runs and led me up and down the beach,” he recalled.
During the strain of the fight, a part of the fisherman’s custom rod snapped away, highlighting the ferocity of the shark’s desire to escape. Despite its violent protestations, Jacobs reeled the shark to the shoreline, astonished by its size.
“Oh my god that is a whopper,” he exclaimed.
It took two hours to reel in a 441-pound whaler shark http://t.co/lesLFtWWuL pic.twitter.com/lCIje5ArKk
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) January 21, 2015
Jacobs and a friend tied a rope around the shark’s tail, dragging it onto the sand so they could measure the animal. The shark was 10-feet-long from nose to tail, a mature adult of a species that is common in Australian waters.
Last year, a man in New Zealand narrowly avoided losing his dog to a bronze whaler shark. As the Inquisitr previously reported, the canine was swimming along the shoreline at a popular park in Auckland when its owner spied the shark approaching. Fortunately, he was able to call the dog from the surf before the predator drew too close.
Bronze Whaler Shark cruising in New Zealand harbour #sharkweek pic.twitter.com/LWnxwIA4qs
— Big Angry Fish (@BigAngryFishTV) August 13, 2014
More recently, a bronze whaler shark was believed to have been responsible for attacking a young diver off Ulladulla in New South Wales. As the Independent reports, 17-year-old Sam Smith was trying to video the shark when it turned and swam towards him. Smith attempted to fend the shark off with a spear in his possession, which caused the animal to become agitated, striking out at him. The shark lacerated Smith’s hand and fingers, requiring him to be airlifted to Sydney for treatment.
Following his battle with the bronze whaler, Jacobs and his fisherman friends dragged the predator back into the surf, leaving the shark to swim back into the depths.
[Image: YouTube/ auzzieFisha9 via the Daily Mail]
