It seems this shark wanted to be caught.
Two New Jersey fisherman were in for a 303-pound surprise when a mako shark jumped into their boat.
Preparing
for an upcoming fishing contest, Tom Rostron Jr. and Clint Simek were
winding down from a day of catch-and-release fishing when the shark
leapt over the side into the bow of the fishing boat.
“At
3:30, this big thing comes into the slick,” Simek recalled to Asbury
Park Press, describing the astounding incident, which took place last
Tuesday.
The
shark began its encounter by acting aggressively toward the boat,
chewing through the balloons alongside the vessel and swallowing
available bait. The amateur fishermen decided to “feed bait” the animal,
but when the shark felt the hook they were using, it sprang out of the
water. Four more jumps and the shark was on the boat.
“It was epic. He backflipped right in,” Simek told Asbury Park Press.
After
the shark thrashed about and began to eat the 31-foot boat, Rostron and
Simek attempted to tie it down for their own safety. Unfortunately,
following a puncture in its gills, the shark died before they made it
back to shore, The Star-Leger reports.
This
is not the first time a mako shark – known for its jumping ability –
has appeared to catch fishermen (instead of vice versa).
In
2011, a 375-pound shark jumped out of the water and landed on the back
of a boat in the Gulf of Mexico. In another incident off South Africa’s
Cape Coast later that year, a great white shark flailed its way onto the
boat of researchers who were conducting a shark population study.
Huffpost
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