Dramatic moment fisherman catch monster shark – but are shocked when they reel it in
THIS is the dramatic moment two fishermen caught a monster shark – but the pair were shocked once they reeled it in.
Aussies Shaun Whale and Sammy Hitzke fought with the beast for 4.5 hours – before discovering their shark had been eaten by another shark.
The master deep-water fishermen had hooked up a swordfish as bait and immediately got a bite at 1640ft deep.
The men immediately realised they had a shark on their hands – and prepared themself for a long-haul fight.
For nearly five hours the pair fought the beast as it used everything in its mite to escape their hook.
But as they eventually managed to pull the shark up towards the boat, they noticed something was wrong.
In a video, posted on Sammy’s YouTube, he is heard saying: “There he is. It’s big and long.
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“It’s a shark. It looks like the shark has been sharked. I don’t know what’s going on there. It’s a massive Thresher.”
Once the huge shark was reeled all the way in, the men realised that their catch had already been another shark’s dinner.
Sammy said: “This is epic, propper epic. He’s got three-quarters of himself missing. That is a proper monster of the deep.”
Later when the pair lugged the colossal catch onboard their boat, Shaun explained how rare their find is.
He said: “I’m absolutely exhausted but this might be the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in the ocean,
“I’ve done a lot of fishing, spent a lot of time out on the big blue and not once did I think I’d find a thresher shark eaten by something, that I imagine was absolutely massive.
“This is a true predator of the depths – Now he’s just food for another shark.
“That is a find of a lifetime.”
Thresher sharks have long tails that make them impressive hunters and fast swimmers.
All three thresher shark species have been listed as vulnerable to extinction by the World Conservation Union since 2007.
They are usually hunted for their meat, livers, skin (for leather), and fins for use in shark-fin soup.
The common thresher is distributed worldwide in tropical and temperate waters, though it prefers cooler temperatures.
Despite its size, the common thresher is minimally dangerous to humans due to its relatively small teeth and timid disposition.
Thresher sharks are in fact said to be scared of humans and will even swim away the moment they see a diver.