A fisherman is speaking out after reeling in a great white shark off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, last weekend.
Boat captain Elliot Sudal told ABC News he has been fishing in the waters off Nantucket for over 10 years and has caught and tagged many different sharks, but never a great white.
Sudal was tracking sharks when something caught his line. His teenage apprentice helped him steady the fishing rod, but it wasn’t until they had reeled in the catch that they realized what it was.
Referring to the process of releasing the animal, he added, “This is the most taboo shark. This is endangered. You have to do everything perfect.”
Video shows Sudal and his apprentice reeling in the great white shark, and Sudal running down to the water to climb on top of it and remove the hook.
At one point, Sudal opens the shark’s mouth with his bare hands as waves crash into them.
“You have to open the mouth a little bit, get the hook out, and then just do everything you can to get them back safely,” Sudal said. “Like, generally, I tag them so we can track them or take a blood sample. But with a shark like this, it’s, you know, catch, release.”
After removing the hook from the shark’s mouth, Sudal and his team were able to drag the great white shark safely back into the water.
“I’m just really, really glad that it just went smoothly and perfectly,” Sudal said. “We were able to get her back [into the deeper water], and the shark was safe.”
Shark experts told ABC News previously that warming waters are attracting more sharks to the Eastern seaboard, and more sharks are migrating to new areas to hunt, meaning shark sightings are becoming more frequent.