4 childhood friends went fishing off Nantucket. They hooked a 12-foot shark.
“It was beautiful and scary at the same time.”
Four childhood friends from Martha’s Vineyard reeled in more than just some tuna during a fishing trip on Wednesday. They got an up-close look at a 12-foot shark.
Alex Finkelstein told Boston.com that he and his friends, including Shane Deary and Al Gale, have made a tradition of going out together on the water at least once or twice a year.
He said they were heading back to the island after a day of tuna fishing when they stopped about two miles off Nantucket.
“We saw a bunch of bait, so we started catching a bunch of mackerel,” Finkelstein said.
The friends decided to put one of the mackerel out on the larger tuna rod, and the 43-year-old venture capitalist said, all of sudden, they felt a “huge fish hit it.”
The four men took turns reeling the catch in over the next 40 minutes, thinking maybe it was going to be a tuna or some kind of shark, Finkelstein said.
“We got it to the boat, and we were like, ‘Oh my God, it’s a great white shark,’” he said. “We just couldn’t believe it. It was beautiful.”
The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy later told Boston.com in an email that the shark was not a great white, but a porbeagle shark.
Finkelstein estimated the shark was 12 feet long, and they kept it alongside the boat for about 10 minutes before cutting the line, he said.
Finkelstein said it was amazing to experience the encounter with his oldest, best friends.
“It’s like a new reality,” he said of seeing the shark up close. “It was beautiful and scary at the same time.”
