Great white shark surprises, circles fishing boat
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In this Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016, file photo, the fin of a great white shark is seen swimming a past research boat in the waters off Gansbaai, South Africa. Olympic champion Michael Phelps lost to a simulated shark in the Discovery Channelâs Shark Week special âPhelps vs. Shark: Great Gold vs. Great White,â which aired July 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam, File) (Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistribu)
Five Wisconsin natives got more than they were expecting during a fishing expedition Friday off the coast of South Carolina.
Chip Michalove, owner and operator of Outcast Fishing on Hilton Head Island, SC, had planned a leisurely afternoon of catching a releasing small fish for the chartered excursion, the Myrtle Beach Online reported. However, the plans he had made for his customers aboard the fishing boat quickly changed when a great white shark showed up.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“At about noon I saw a big shadow behind the boat, and I was surprised because I was so close in shore,” said Michalove, who has caught and released several great whites before.
Michalove told Myrtle Beach Online he had expected to catch sea bass, redfish or maybe a small shark when the huge great white shark showed up and shocked the seasoned fisherman.
“To only be out there for a couple hours and have one circle the boat was pretty rare,” he said to the publication. “The shark came in. It would circle the boat a few times, and then it would leave. Then it would come back. Every time we thought she was gone for good she showed right back up.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The shark returned and circled around the boat for 45 minutes before leaving for good.
The “real timid” shark, as Michalove described it, stayed too far away for him to hook it or tag it, he said, but his customers were still impressed by the experience.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“They were absolutely blown away,” said Michalove. “They said ‘how in the world are we going to be able to top this?’ They were so excited they were speechless by the end of the day.”
Michalove said during this time of year, sharks are usually looking for dead whales and might have mistaken the boat for one.