Catch of a shark said to measure 20 feet offered glaring proof that the legendary apex predators inhabit the region.
–Editor’s note: This post looks back to 2012, when the accompanying image was captured on a Mexican beach, at a time when it was not widely known that adult great white sharks inhabited the Sea of Cortez.
Thirteen years ago, an enormous great white shark sprawled on a beach near Guaymas, Mexico, on the mainland side of the Sea of Cortez, quickly became a spectacle.
Commercial fishermen Guadalupe and Baltazar (no last names provided) hauled the giant shark up in a net and towed it two miles to shore behind their 22-foot boat.
The graphic image tells the story of a town captivated by the rare sight of an apex predator said to measure 20 feet.
Guadalupe was quoted as saying, “We were amazed and immediately realized that we had a huge, dead great white shark, and then we thought, ‘What are we gonna do?’ ”
The catch saddened conservationists and surprised many who were not aware that upper regions of the Sea of Cortez were utilized by such large white sharks.
It’s now known that adult great white sharks seasonally migrate into the Sea of Cortez to give birth.
The 23-year-old man was apparently bitten while diving near a bait ball off Haleiwa on Oahu’s North Shore.
A tour-boat employee in Hawaii is recovering from an apparent shark attack that occurred Saturday afternoon outside of Haleiwa on Oahu’s North Shore.
Hawaii News Now reported that the 23-year-old unidentified man was hospitalized with serious injuries.
The Star Advertiser, citing the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, reported that the incident marked the first shark attack in Hawaiian waters in 2025.
The DNLR had not issued a news release about the incident as of late Sunday.
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Daniel Casler of My Kailua stated via Instagram that he had spoken to a friend of the victim and added the following update:
“The victim is an employee of the shark tour company and was caught in a bait ball (where are large school of fish ball up) and the shark latched onto the forearm of the individual.
“His arm was saved and he’s retained feeling. There are more surgeries ahead for him but thankfully he will recover.”
It’s not clear what type of shark was involved, but tiger sharks are implicated in most unprovoked attacks in Hawaiian waters.
Ryan Selvey was fighting what he described as a personal-best giant trevally when the tax collector came calling.
A fisherman based in Queensland, Australia, this week shared an image showing him posing with the head of a giant trevally after its body was cleanly severed by a shark during the fight.
“The hat says it all,” Ryan Selvy bemoaned via Instagram. “What would have been a [personal best] GT.”
The letters on the cap read, “Tax sucks.” (Click here to view Selvey’s post.)
For anglers around the world, a shark that steals hooked fish is referred to as the taxman, or tax collector.
Giant trevally are found throughout the Indian and central Pacific oceans, eastward to Hawaii, where they’re called ulua.
They’re prized mostly for their fighting ability and Selvey said the GT claimed by the shark would have been the largest he had caught (though well short of the world-record, 160-pound, 7-ounce giant trevally caught off Japan in 2006).
Selvey did not provide an estimated weight for the GT, but told FTW Outdoors that he was wearing the cap when the taxman came calling.
Image shows a “very large” thresher shark that looks to have seen its last days, but scientists assure that the opposite is true.
The recent accidental catch of a “very large” thresher shark off Rhode Island was fortuitous in that the shark was safely released and continues to provide researchers with important data.
The Atlantic Shark Institute shared the accompanying image this week via social media, stating:
“Pictures like this have long been associated with a large shark being displayed on a dock at a shark tournament, or from a group of offshore fisherman after a day on the water. This one is a little different and has a much better ending.”
Commercial fisherman Chris Brown discovered the female shark in one of his nets near Block Island in late October. Because the shark was too large to be freed by hand, Brown hauled her aboard and fitted her with an acoustic tag.
The shark was then released and, according to the Atlantic Shark Institute, “swam away at a robust pace and we are happy to share that we have since detected her several times on our acoustic array near the island, confirming her survival.”
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The group thanked Brown “for tagging this shark and taking care to make sure that she continues to be a part of our critical ocean ecosystem.”
Top comment: “Great story but I don’t think this picture goes with it.”
Another follower: “Get a real picture and I may believe you. This shark is dead, and would not survive being hung upside down with a cable or high-tension rope for any length of time needed to do these tasks.”
Another follower, claiming to be a lifelong commercial fisherman: “Would love to see video of that shark alive before I believe it is not dead hanging there.”
Arrow points to tag location. Photo: Atlantic Shark Institute
The Atlantic Shark Institute addressed doubters by stating:
“If you look closely you will see the $400+ tag at the base of her dorsal fin. Our partners would never deploy a tag on a dead or lethargic shark. It would simply make no sense and not anything we would support. Protocol for 95%+ of our projects is to leave the shark in the water.
“With these commercial partners everything comes on deck as the net, with all its catch, is opened on it. Based on the size and weight of this shark the only option was to use the lift. Good news is that she has pinged in several times from her release location so all is good. We hope to follow her for the next 10 years.”
An angler in Mozambique was fighting a trevally when a large shark ate the trevally, only to find itself about to become prey.
A fishing-themed Instagram page on Sunday posted a “viral alert” image showing an angler posing with the head of a large shark and asked followers: “What did this?”
A little research reveals that the image was captured off Mozambique, in southeast Africa, in 2022.
Back then the charter company Fish Bazaruto described the chain of events, via Instagram, that explains the image: “On a recent session we hooked into a Yellowspotted Trevally that was taken by this shark, which was eventually taxed by an even bigger one.”
Footage showing tiger shark’s dramatic turtle hunt is shared by Florida travel company as a warning, but it was not captured off Florida.
Florida Keys Travel this week shared dramatic footage showing a tiger shark chasing a turtle to the beach as something to ponder the “next time you think about visiting the Florida Keys.”
The company added: “The wild beauty of the ocean always keeps you on your toes in paradise.”
While tiger sharks can be encountered off Florida, the footage was captured last January off Western Australia. Photographer Ruth Gaw told FTW Outdoors that the shark measured 8 feet and that the hunt was unsuccessful.
“The turtle got away, and the shark didn’t stay much longer,” Gaw said. “A large stingray also got chased in, but I had stopped recording when it happened.”
Tiger sharks, which can measure to about 18 feet, are found in tropical and temperate waters around the world.
From the Florida Museum: “Tiger sharks are second only to the white shark in terms of the number of reported attacks on humans.
“Tiger sharks are often curious and unaggressive when encountered yet are one of the three species most commonly implicated in shark attacks and fatalities and should be treated with extreme caution and a great deal of respect.”
Footage shows the alien-like skate approaching the vessel in Deer Harbor, Wash., as if to offer a seasonal greeting.
A Washington State harbor master on Tuesday captured rare footage showing an enormous skate swimming to his boat as if to offer a seasonal greeting.
“Halloween is coming early to Deer Harbor this year!” Deer Harbor Charters announced via Instagram, in reference to the sea creature’s alien-like appearance.
“Appropriately named ‘Big Skate,’ this impressive creature is the largest in the skate (Rajidae) family. It is rare for us to have such an amazing encounter!”
The harbor master is Marc Broman, who presumably is among those chatting in the audio.
According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, big skates range from central Baja California to the Bering Sea off Alaska. (The aquarium has at least one big skate on exhibit.)
They can measure 8 feet and they prey largely on shrimp, worms, clams and small fishes.
Big skates typically hide in the sand with only their eyes visible, so Tuesday’s surface encounter was indeed extraordinary.
Big skates are sometimes caught by anglers and, according to the International Game Fish Assn., the world record stands at 91 pounds, for a skate caught off Eureka, Ca., in 1993.
A photographer in Hawaii has shared footage showing a blacktip reef shark swimming just feet from shore toward a lone snorkeler.
A photographer in Hawaii has captured footage showing what appears to be a blacktip reef shark swimming just feet from shore toward a lone North Shore snorkeler.
The footage, captured by Bryan Phillips and shared by Clark Little, features suspenseful “Jaws” music and a warning shout to the snorkeler: “Hey, there’s a shark right there! Look down!”
Treading water with a shark nearby would be unsettling for just about anyone. Check out the video to view the snorkeler’s response:
Poe “chummed up” the shark midway between Palos Verdes and Santa Catalina Island a day after a 51-foot fin whale washed ashore and died on Torrance Beach.
Poe had intended to follow L.A. County lifeguards deep into and perhaps beyond the San Pedro Channel, where they planned to deposit the whale carcass.
Photo courtesy of Keith Poe
But the carcass began to sink shortly after it was towed off the beach and lifeguards cut it loose about two miles offshore.
“When the whale sank I just went offshore to chum for mako sharks,” Poe said. “And then that girl showed up.”
On Thursday, Poe introduced “that girl” as the newly documented white shark, Catalina.
Photo courtesy of Keith Poe
“I named her Catalina because she’s a beautiful shark and it’s a beautiful name, and because she was on that side of the channel,” Poe told FTW Outdoors.
His footage shows Catalina swimming gracefully and seemingly effortlessly near the surface in the outer channel.
The footage also inspired Poe’s friend, Paul McPhee, to create the accompanying artwork.
“She was unknown [to science] and added to the [MCSI] California database,” Poe stated Thursday on Facebook. “Paul was able to capture her size and beauty in this beautiful piece of art. Refections from the sun produced the copper hues you see.”
As of late Saturday there remained no sign of the fin whale carcass. Some people half-expected it to eventually float to the surface.
Footage shows a great white shark attacking a striped bass just feet from a fishing boat and its wide-eyed passengers off Cape Cod.
A Massachusetts shark researcher on Saturday shared footage showing a great white shark launching an explosive attack on a striped bass at the end of a fishing line.
“Doug Nelson took this footage 5 yrs ago today while fishing with Columbia Sportfishing out of Rock Harbor,” John Chisholm described via X. “We’ve had a few reports of sharks taking bass this year. This video shows just how fast it happens.”
Doug Nelson took this footage 5 yrs ago today while fishing with Columbia Sportfishing out of Rock Harbor. We’ve had a few reports of sharks taking bass this year. This video shows just how fast it happens. Fishermen should keep this in mind when retrieving & releasing fish. pic.twitter.com/HpqL6ghZyT
On July 20, 2019, the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy shared the same clip under the title, “Air Jaws Cape Cod Bay!”
The footage is reminiscent of a similar Cape Cod “Jaws” incident that was caught on video in 2018.
In that clip, a boy is struggling to reel in a striped bass when a white shark charges from the depths and steals his catch just yards from the stern.
With white sharks feeding off Cape Cod throughout the summer and early fall, Chisholm advises anglers to exercise caution “when retrieving & releasing fish.”
(@MA_Sharks)