Video Caught of Shark Attacking Released Marlin
OutdoorHub Reporters 06.14.13
With the water warming up the usual tradition of sharks eating anglers’ catches seems to be back in force.
Recently we reported on a giant mako setting a claim on a 550-pound swordfish, two bull sharks divvying up a prize tarpon and even a killer whale surfacing for a bite of halibut. Now photographer Alistair McGlashan released a video of a 727-pound mako shark ravaging a hooked marlin. McGlashan was accompanying several anglers on a trip near Port Stephens, Australia to document their catches. As the anglers hooked a fish, he would jump underwater and photograph the catch as the anglers reeled it in.
The trip had been going well until about lunchtime when the crew hooked a large, playful Marlin who intended to put up a fight. The anglers noticed that a second fish was in the area and, thinking that it was another marlin, decided to set more bait out. Of course the bait was never taken.
By the time McGlashen hit the water the marlin had calmed, which he noted as odd. Sensing that something was wrong, he quickly snapped a few photographs before the crew released the fish. As he was just wrapping up, the photographer saw a mako more than three times his weight move in to take a bite out of the marlin. McGlashan was only able to take a short video before realizing that his life could also be in jeopardy. Heeding the calls of his shipmates, he swam hurriedly for the safety of the boat.
“Everyone’s like, ‘oh you’re the luckiest man alive.'” McGlashan recalled. “‘A 300-kilo shark would’ve eaten you first.’ That shark would have never ate me. He naturally feeds on the marlin. I look back on this experience as one of the most amazing things and for me its the biggest privilege ever to be part of it, and definitely not on the menu.”
