Wonder says he feared the shark would die from the gaff wound.
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The crew of anglers briefly tussled with the shark and posed for photos before dropping it back into the water. The fishers could have, and certainly should have, cut the line to free the shark. But gaffing a fish can be lethal for the animal, and anglers tend to avoid the tactic if they intend to put the fish back alive. Fishers use a gaff-a large hook on the end of a pole or rope-to help land a fish. “I was totally against gaffing it,” Wonder says. Others in the group, he recalls, insisted it was a mako, a species anglers can legally catch and keep in California. Months later, Wonder says he believed the shark was a great white. The anglers have landed a young great white shark, a protected species in California.Īs the group celebrates, Spencer Wonder, a shark fishing enthusiast, is seen quickly kneeling beside the fish and attempting to unhook it. As it rolls onto the asphalt, the group erupts in triumphant applause. The fish is bleeding, one of its left gill slits is badly torn. Eager arms reach out and pull the shark over the railing. Shaky cellphone video footage shows the animal levitating toward the pier while the fishers shout excitedly. The angler’s companions lower a large hook on a rope into the water, gaff the exhausted fish in the head, and hoist it up to the pier. One of them, using heavy fishing tackle, has apparently hooked and played out a one-and-a-half-meter-long shark. People are chattering excitedly at the railing of the Huntington Beach Pier in Southern California. Listen now, download, or subscribe to “Hakai Magazine Audio Edition” through your favorite podcast app. This article is also available in audio format.
SHARK HUNTING THE GREAT WHITE DOWNLOAD
Stream or download audio For this article Octo| 2,300 words, about 11 minutes Share this article Illustration by Chad Lewis Gray Laws on White Sharks A loophole in California law is letting fishers who repeatedly catch great white sharks off the hook.