Anglers Snap Eye-Opening Photos After Tiger Shark Devours Bluefin Tuna Off Fishermen’s Line
OutdoorHub Reporters 08.03.18
A group of fishermen off the coast of New Jersey reeled in a disturbing sight earlier this week, when they pulled in a bluefin tuna that had been eaten down to the bone.
According to the charter captain, Dave Bender, of Jenny Lee Sportfishing, the anglers were trolling for Bluefin tuna about 70 miles from Manasquan Inlet. “We didn’t see him, but we couldn’t gain much on him,” Bender told Fox News.
The fight reportedly lasted 40 minutes before the fish seemingly ran out of gas and started to get close to the boat. Experience told Bender the fish may have been tail-wrapped, meaning its tail was tangled in the fishing line, however the anglers would soon discover the fish was in a fight of its own while they were reeling it in.
“It gets about 75 feet from the boat, it’s very obvious, we see just the head, the spine and the tail, and the tiger shark swimming right to the boat,” said Bender.
“So that thing came in. . . it was like that old cartoon, when the cat gets the fish and [strips it clean],” he tells Fox. “It looked like the logo for the Bonefish Grill.”
Upon landing the tuna, the fishermen measured it at 68 inches long. Their best guess is the fish weighed between 160 – 200 pounds before it was devoured by the tiger shark. It isn’t known for sure, but Bender estimates the shark weighed upwards of 400 pounds.
