A DARING fisherman has been seen attempting to claw open the jaw of a 13-foot-long shark.
Mason Carter was fishing in Florida when he caught the tiger shark.
“It was definitely a surprise,” Carter told ClickOrlando.
“We had quite a few rods and reels out at that point, and the rod that I actually caught the tiger shark on was kind of [for] smaller fish and smaller sharks.”
He explained that he usually does not encounter tiger sharks as large as this 13-foot-long one.
Carter was fishing with some friends off the coast of Sarasota County, Southwest Florida, when he encountered the beast last month.
“Typically, we get a lot of bull sharks, a lot of blacktips,” he explained.
“During the winter time, we’ll get a lot of sandbar sharks, and occasionally, we’ll get tigers and hammers – but not typically tigers this big.”
Carson posted a video of the shark on Instagram, showing him standing on the animal’s head.
He can also be seen repeatedly trying to open its jaws with just his bare hands.
Carson and his friends did eventually release the shark back into the ocean.
But rather than letting it swim away on its own, the young man risked his life by swimming alongside the shark.
It appears Carson is an avid fisher.
His Instagram is filled with images of him alongside his sizeable catches.
He shared the unusual reason why he had decided to share a video of the shark online.
“I bet in the Wawa parking lot with a buddy,” he explained.
“He bet me 100 bucks that I couldn’t get on the news with my tiger shark.
Sharks are not an unusual sighting off the coast of Florida, but do you know which species are the most common?
“He was scrolling through Instagram and seeing a guy had a saw fish on the news.
“He bet me 100 bucks that I couldn’t get on the news for my tiger shark.”
Carson proved his friend wrong and is now, presumably, $100 richer because of the success of his video.
Many would not be as brave as Carson and risk losing their hand – or their life – for the sake of a bet.
