Watch: Fisherman shocked as his catch turns out be a great white shark

In a video, he is seen struggling with his fishing stick due to the weight of the catch — and the shark leaps out of water seconds later

Trends Desk

Published: Fri 4 Aug 2023, 11:15 AM

A fisherman in Canada’s Nova Scotia province accidentally hooked a great white shark as he paddled his kayak in the Minas Basin. He captured the moment on his head-mounted camera and shared it on social media.

In the video uploaded on Facebook on July 31, fisherman Rick Austin is heard saying after hooking his catch: “She’s pretty big. Yeah, she’s pretty big”. At the point little did he know that it was not an ordinary fish.

In the video, he is seen struggling with his fishing stick due to the weight of the catch, but continues to try to pull it towards him. Seconds later, the shark is seen leaping out of the water, revealing its massive size. Following this, Austin realises it's a shark. Towards the end of the clip, Austin uses a knife to cut it loose and says: "Here it goes."

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In the same Facebook post, Austin shared that biologists had confirmed that the creature was a great white shark. “Biologists at the New England Aquarium in Massachusetts and the Department of Integrative Biology from the University of Guelph, Ontario have confirmed that it is indeed a Great White shark,” he wrote.

“They estimate it to be between 6 to 8 feet long and weighing between 200 to 250 pounds. I am now a YouTuber lol,” Austin added.

Austin’s shark encounter drew several comments from users.

“Couldn’t imagine the rush you got when that thing swam under the kayak! Little sketchy how you held the fillet knife with all that pressure on your line tho,” a person said.

Another added, “How thrilling.”

“Couldn’t imagine the rush you got when that thing swam under the kayak,” read a comment.

In a reply to a user, Austin said that he first thought he had hooked a dolphin. “My 1st thought was that it was a dolphin and that it would just spool me and then it would have hundreds of yards of 50-pound braid wrapping around it,” he wrote.

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