A great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) was hooked by a charter fishing boat about a mile and half off the Fort Lauderdale, Florida coast on Tuesday morning, according to a WPTV report. Five teenagers from the Tallahassee Community College baseball team had chartered the boat. While the crew realized that they had hooked something big, they initially thought it was a bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas). However, after the shark had been on the line for over an hour and a half, they realized it was actually a white shark.
Captain Taco Perez told WPTV that the shark was on the line for “about two hours” before the crew “released the fish after taking a quick couple of photos.” Perez also told WPTV that they estimated the shark to be 13′(4m) in length with a weight of approximately 1,000lb (450kg).
The great white shark is a protected species in Florida waters.