Rare great white shark briefly hooked off Nantucket beach in catch-and-release encounter

An angler who reeled in a rare great white shark at a Nantucket beach said he posted extraordinary video of the encounter to social media as an example of how to safely catch and release one of the ocean’s greatest predators.

Elliot Sudal said he was “testing the waters” off the Massachusetts beach he regularly uses when he inadvertently snagged the shark on Sunday.

The footage on his Instagram account shows him reeling in the fish, then hauling it from the water by its tail before removing the hook and returning it to the waves, watched by a number of captivated onlookers.

“By no means was [I] targeting that white, you can’t control what picks up your bait,” he told the Nantucket Current.

“I posted that video because I feel like I did everything right in that situation. Shark was in the surf, removed the hook and sent her back to sea in about 15 seconds.”

Sudal said he had never previously caught a great white, listed as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, in 13 years of fishing in Nantucket. But he said he has landed more than a thousand sharks of other species, including sandbars.

His encounter with the great white, he said, was something he would never forget.

“[I] saw the spotted pectoral fin flash in a wave and just focused,” he said. “Understood the gravity of the situation and had to get her released safely and quickly. Amazing creature, humbled to be blessed with the opportunity to interact with one.”

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), white sharks are prohibited from being landed by fishermen, but they are occasionally caught by accident. Despite their globally vulnerable status, the number of great white sharks in US waters is unknown, the agency said.

Sudal said he hoped other anglers would watch the video and learn from the encounter.

“If you are into shark fishing here, use appropriate heavy tackle, barbless circle hooks, and release immediately,” he said.

“Take the online course, get involved with a tagging program. Understand people are watching you, respect the animal and be safe.”