Teenager Catches Great White on Fishing Trip, Gets Attacked Trying to Release It
According to TrackingSharks.com, there were four verified shark attacks this year across Australia (as of March 26). A recent incident that took place in South Australia will likely go down as one of the most unique attacks we’ll see. A 16-year-old boy by the name of Nathan Ness was bitten by a great white while trying to cut it free from his fishing line. According to his dad, Nathan came away mostly uninjured, save for a few stitches.
The attack happened outside of Adelaide’s West Beach when Nathan, his brother, sister, and father Michael Ness were out fishing. Nathan caught a five-foot juvenile great white and the family managed to reel it in so they could do the humane thing of bringing it onto the boat, removing the hook, and setting it free.
“I grabbed a pair of pliers, ripped the hook out of it,” Michael Ness told the Australian Broadcasting Company. “Then he [Nathan] picked it up to throw it back into the water and take a picture of it, and as he picked it up, it swung around and grabbed hold. I reached down then and opened its mouth and the shark let go, and he hauled it up and threw it back in the water.”
The whole thing only lasted a couple of seconds but the dramatic scene left significant bites in Nathan’s leg. The family rushed back to shore where emergency responders were waiting to treat him. According to Michael, by the time they were pushing him into an ambulance for treatment, he was already asking if they could go fishing again the next day.
In California, the Department of Fish and Wildlife advises against removing any great white from the water in incidents of an accidental catch for this very reason. The animals are one of the most widely protected species in the world and in Australia, specifically, the possession, sale, or purchase of a great white or any of its body parts is illegal and violators can be fined as much as $20,000.
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