Great white sharks are torpedo-shaped fish with powerful tails that help them propel through water for up to 15 miles per hour. They are usually depicted as vicious predators that can attack people in movies. Just recently, a shark attacked a swimmer in Sydney, Australia.
A fisherman encountered a great white shark 15 miles from Waikiki, Hawaii. The shark reportedly snatched the 100lb (45.3 kg) tuna from the fishing line and dragged it 30-40 feet (9-12 meters) underwater within a few seconds. The fisherman suffered minor injuries from the incident, while the tuna was never recovered.
A Great White Shark is attracted by a lure on the 'Shark Lady Adventure Tour' on October 19, 2009 in Gansbaai, South Africa. The lure, usually a tuna head, is attached to a buoy and thrown into the water in front of the cage with the divers.
Unexpected Visitor Snatches Tuna Fish From Fisherman
Hawaiian fisherman Nick Morris has been fishing for decades and has encountered sharks before. However, his recent fishing trip last Saturday was nothing ordinary. He told local news outlet KHON2 that he was surprised when a large shadow appeared at the side of his boat and suddenly came up to snatch the 100-pound tuna.
He even showed his hand with a cut from the fishing line where the tuna was reeled. The shark dragged the tuna deep in the water in mere seconds that Morris had to let go of the line. When he pulled it back, the tuna was gone and the whole line chopped from the very top.
The shark went back towards the boat about five minutes later, which allowed Morris to have a better look. He said that he recently had an experience with a 12-foot shark, but the recent one was out of the ordinary. His boat measures around 27 feet long and he believed that the shark that dragged the tuna could be between 17 to 19 feet.
"It was wide, I was telling my friend, whatever happens, do not fall in because he just ate a 100-pound ahi no problem at all, and he still came back he probably wants more," Morris told KHON2.
Great White Shark Rarely Seen in Hawaii
Shark expert Dr. Carl Meyer from the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology at first could not identify whether the shark in the footage was a tiger shark or a great white shark. When he slowed the video and looked at it frame by frame, he said that the photo shows that the nose is held further back, which is a characteristic of a great white shark.
These sharks are not always seen in the country. They are usually in higher frequencies during winter, which baffles scientists. Dr. Meyer told KHON2 that it is unusual to see smaller great white sharks in Hawaii because larger adults usually visit the island. Tiger sharks are more commonly seen in Hawaii despite their low numbers.
As Newsweek reported, great white sharks are more commonly found in Australia, New Zealand, North Atlantic, Northeastern Pacific, and South Africa. These sharks rarely visit Hawaii, and if they do, they usually come from Mexico and California.
Some experts think that these sharks might be attracted to the humpback whale breeding season that occurs from November to April off the coast of Hawaii. Great white sharks are known to eat whale carcasses. In 2021, they were seen feasting the remains of a dead humpback whale.
RELATED ARTICLE: Sharks on Movies Are Overwhelmingly Portrayed as Villains, Making It Harder to Conserve Them
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