OUTER BANKS, N.C. — A group of fishermen caught a great white shark along the shore of Hatteras Island on Saturday.
Video and photos of the incident show a group of men wrangling the shark on the shoreline before setting it free.
At least seven people were involved in assisting the shark, which appeared to be around 12 or 13 feet, back into the ocean.
Jason Rosenfeld and Luke Beard spoke with WTKR News 3 Outer Banks reporter Will Thomas about their big catch Monday.
"We were going out to catch something big, you know, that's the thing, that's what we do. That's our passion," said Rosenfeld.
And while dusky sharks and scalloped hammerheads were on their minds, catching the great white was not intentional. "We were just going through the motions that we normally go through. And, well, we got a surprise."
That surprise was a great white 12 or 13 feet in length — possibly over 1,000 pounds.
"I set hook on the fish, and it just felt different," said Beard. "It was super heavy, very, very heavy. So I knew it was something different."
Beard and Rosenfeld said the safety of the fish they catch is always a priority, getting a "good release" on the fish they catch.
Watch related: Sand tiger shark hooked by fishers in Duck
If you unintentionally catch a shark while fishing, the North Carolina Aquariums say to do the following:
"To reduce death or long-term injury, please try to keep sharks in the water to safely remove the hook or cut the line close to the hook."
According to the North Carolina Sea Grant, great whites can appear year-round in the waters along the North Carolina coast, but they are most common during winter and early spring.
Great whites are the largest predatory fish in the ocean, with some reaching more than 20 feet and weighing over two tons, the NCSG says.
