A Florida charter captain has shared dramatic footage that shows a giant hammerhead shark attacking a large tarpon he was hoping to release for a client.
“He just took it out of my hands!” Capt. Rob Gorta screams early in the accompanying footage, which was captured in June but posted for the first time on Thursday.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4oyjIgQcWU%5D
Viewers will note the shark’s dorsal fin closing in on the tarpon before Gorta realizes what’s happening. “It was just an intense moment for sure,” the veteran captain explained in an exclusive report by Bay News 9.
The tarpon, estimated to weigh 180 pounds, appeared to have been bitten by the 14-foot shark at some point as it was being reeled toward the boat off Tampa Bay.
The shark did not claim the fish from Gorta during the initial encounter, but kept coming back. Gorta at one point had a crewman start the motor and slowly move in an attempt to allow for a successful release away from the shark.
But the shark stayed with the boat, and Gorta was restricted by Florida regulations that ban lifting tarpon measuring 40 inches or longer from the water.
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“I’m just going to unhook it I guess. I mean that’s all I can do,” Gorta says. “I hate to.” Once the line was cut, with the shark still going after the tarpon, the captain bemoans, “I did the best I can, man.”
Underwater footage later shows the shark with the tarpon in its mouth.
Even if it had been legal to boat the tarpon, Gorta told Bay News 9 that any such attempt would have been dangerous. “We don’t want to drag a fish that big in and risk getting knocked into the water where a monster shark is swimming around us.” he said.
The captain added: “The shark definitely knew that the tarpon was weak, and was just waiting for its moment.”
–Images courtesy of Capt. Rob Gorta
