By Pete Thomas
Fishing became secondary for a group of Southern California anglers Thursday after they encountered a massive great white shark feeding on a gray whale carcass.
The accompanying footage, captured near the San Clemente Pier, shows the scarred predator swimming just off the stern of the 23-foot fishing boat, and moments later sinking its teeth into the whale.
(It’s not known how the whale died, but whale carcasses often attract sharks.)
The anglers were part of an AllWater Charters expedition out of Dana Point. Allwater posted the video on Instagram and Marc Levine, the company’s owner, shared the footage on Facebook. The shark was estimated to have measured 17 to 19 feet, according to the Orange County Register.
“So awesome and crazy to see a massive great white like this around here,” Marc Girardeau, an Orange County photographer, wrote in the Facebook comments section.
A red lifeguard boat also appears in the footage. Lifeguards planned to tow the whale carcass farther offshore, so it does not wash onto the beach.
The encounter occurred less than a mile from shore. By towing the carcass out to sea, it was hoped that the shark would be drawn farther from swimmers and surfers along the coast.
–Images showing the great white shark near the boat and feeding on the whale carcass are video screen grabs
Makes the lifeguard boat look small. Gonna need a bigger boat! Thanks for the bait ball,all fish welcome. Happy fishing.
The Jules
Posted by: Jules Samala | Jul 19, 2018 at 10:29 PM