{"id":14881,"date":"2026-06-12T21:49:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T21:49:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=14881"},"modified":"2026-06-12T21:49:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T21:49:26","slug":"a-fisherman-caught-a-great-white-shark-on-nantucket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=14881","title":{"rendered":"A Fisherman Caught a Great White Shark on Nantucket"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-body\">\n<p>Published June 12, 2026 03:02PM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>A Massachusetts fisherman recently reeled in an unexpected catch: an eight-foot long great white shark. But the angler didn\u2019t leave the shark stranded on the beach. Instead, he hauled it to the shallows, pulled the hook from its mouth, and sent it back out to deeper water.<\/p>\n<p>In a very 2026 twist, the moment was <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DZTmDt8MBN5\/\">captured on video and uploaded to Instagram<\/a>, where it quickly went viral.<\/p>\n<p>Boat captain and shark fisherman Elliot Sudal, 37, was casting off of a beach on the south shore of Nantucket, an island 30 miles south of Cape Cod, on June 7, when he hooked the great white. Nathan Skerritt, a friend, was also present, and helped Sudal bring the shark on shore.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m just one of the boys that happened to be there and got to reel the beauty in,\u201d Skerritt told <em>Outside<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"width:100%;border:none;display:block\" title=\"Script Content\" async=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>A Frantic Moment on the Beach<\/h2>\n<p>The waters off of Cape Cod have, in recent years, become an popular destination for great white sharks. A 2023 study suggests that Cape Cod is now the largest seasonal meeting spot on the planet for the sharks.<\/p>\n<p>The shark that Sudal hooked was likely a juvenile, due to its size. Mature great white sharks can grow to between 11 and 20 feet long.<\/p>\n<p>The video shows Skerritt wrestling the great white into shallower water by the tail fin, before straddling it and using a pair of pliers to remove the hook from its mouth. He then pushed the shark back out to sea, where it swam away.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHooks out, and back on her way in 15 seconds,\u201d Sudal wrote in the post\u2019s caption. \u201cNot sure how to do it better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Great white sharks are a protected species, and Rachel Hager, the public affairs officer for the fisheries division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), told <em>Outside<\/em> in an email that intentionally catching a great white is illegal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut they are occasionally caught by accident in a variety of fisheries for other species,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2744666\" class=\"pom-image-wrap photo-alignnone\"><figcaption class=\"pom-caption\"><span class=\"article__caption\">Great white sharks now flock to the shallow waters off Cape Cod<\/span> (Photo: David L. Ryan\/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Hager said regulations are currently in place to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.fisheries.noaa.gov\/topic\/bycatch&amp;sa=D&amp;source=docs&amp;ust=1781300852028974&amp;usg=AOvVaw2E3ZSjtU_kWnyuLtIA45ZU\">minimize accidental catches<\/a>, but NOAA also grants permits to fisherman to catch the sharks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the Atlantic, recreational fishermen who hold the appropriate permits are allowed to intentionally fish for white sharks with rod and reel gear, as long as they release the shark immediately without removing the shark from the water and without further harming the shark,\u201d Hager added.<\/p>\n<p>Sudal <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/nantucketcurrent.com\/news\/fisherman-reels-in-great-white-shark-from-nantuckets-south-shore\">told a local news outlet <em>The Nantucket Current <\/em><\/a>that he has been shark fishing on the shores of Nantucket since 2013. That year <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/US\/man-photographed-wrestling-shark-ashore\/story?id=19682461\">he wrestled a large shark to shore<\/a>, and video of that encounter also generated a glut of attention (he let that shark go, too). Sudal told\u00a0<em>The Nantucket Current<\/em> that the June 7 encounter was the first time he\u2019s ever caught a great white shark, and that it was unintentional.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCaught 1000-plus sandbars and hundreds of [dusky sharks] off the beach, tagged most of them along the way,\u201d he said. \u201cBy no means was I targeting that white, you can\u2019t control what picks up your bait.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sudal said he realized that the shark was a great white when he saw its spotted pectoral fin, and only hauled it in further to release it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnderstood the gravity of the situation, and had to get her released safely and quickly,\u201d he told <em>The <\/em><em>Current<\/em>. \u201cAmazing creature, humbled to be blessed with the opportunity to interact with one. Had a great crew helping with everything, she swam off strong, not something we will ever forget.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Releasing the Shark Was the Right Call<\/h2>\n<p>Tanner Mansell is an expert shark diver and guide who takes tourists to see sharks off the coast of Florida. In 2020, he and a fellow guide were convicted of a felony\u2014and later pardoned by President Trump\u2014for releasing endangered sharks from a fishing line.<\/p>\n<p>He told <em>Outside<\/em> that the shark in Sudal\u2019s video appeared to be an eight-foot long juvenile. Although Mansell doesn\u2019t agree with fishing for sharks off-shore, because the bait brings sharks closer to beaches where people are swimming, he believes Sudal made the right decisions to free the shark.<\/p>\n<p>Mansell explained that releasing the animal so quickly was crucial, because sharks die very quickly when out of the water.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe speed of this is the most important aspect of it,\u201d Mansell said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t wait around to take a photo or something, he got on it. This guy knew what he was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2715678\" class=\"pom-image-wrap photo-alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"A diver feeds a shark\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2560\" height=\"2560\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2715678\" style=\"color:transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Mansell3-scaled.jpg?width=3840&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover 1x\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Mansell3-scaled.jpg?width=3840&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover\"\/><figcaption class=\"pom-caption\"><span class=\"article__caption\">Shark expert Tanner Mansell believes the anglers acted correctly by saving the great white and taking it back out to sea<\/span>\u00a0(Photo: courtesy Tanner Mansell)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Mansell explained that certain shark species can die simply from being reeled in, even if not pulled out of the water, because of the stress their fight response puts on their body. A <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/journals.plos.org\/plosone\/article?id=10.1371\/journal.pone.0281441\">2023 study<\/a> found that nearly 50 percent of blacktip sharks, for example, will die during catch-and-release. <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/aquila.usm.edu\/cgi\/viewcontent.cgi?article=1424&amp;context=gcr\">Another study<\/a> suggests great hammerheads die more than 90 percent of the time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHammerheads\u2019 muscles demand huge amounts of oxygen,\u201d Mansell said. \u201cWhen they don\u2019t get enough oxygen to meet that demand, they\u2019re able to get reeled in. So to fight, they\u2019ll switch over to anaerobic metabolism, which exerts large amounts of lactic acid and carbon dioxide into their body. So the shark might be alive and moving, but when you release them, that lactic acid accumulation in their bloodstream becomes acidic, muscle functions deteriorate, organ systems start to fail. Even if they swim away, there\u2019s a high likelihood they\u2019ll die.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mansell said that it\u2019s incredibly rare to \u2018accidentally\u2019 catch a shark, and that landing a great white is even rarer. But if you do accidentally pull one in, your best bet is to simply cut your fishing line and let the shark swim away.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRemoving a hook is a very common way for people to get bit,\u201d Mansell said. \u201cSo if you don\u2019t have pliers and the experience to remove a hook, the best plan of action would be to cut the line near to the hook and put the shark back in with the hook in its mouth. It\u2019ll have a lip ring for a while, but eventually that hook will get pushed out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Outside<\/em> also spoke with a ranger at nearby Cape Cod National Seashore. Cape Cod saw a fatal shark attack in 2018, and the shark population around the peninsula appears to be growing. The ranger directed readers to the park\u2019s \u201cShark Safety\u201d page, which offers the following tips for avoiding an attack:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Be aware sharks hunt for seals in shallow water.<\/li>\n<li>Stay close to shore where rescuers can reach you.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t isolate yourself. Swim, paddle, kayak, and surf in groups.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid areas where seals are present.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid areas where schools of fish are visible.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid murky or low-visibility water.<\/li>\n<li>Limit splashing.<\/li>\n<li>Follow all signage and flag warnings at beaches and instructions of the lifeguards.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!-- --><span hidden=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/outdoor-adventure\/water-activities\/great-white-shark-video\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Published June 12, 2026 03:02PM A Massachusetts fisherman recently reeled in an unexpected catch: an eight-foot long great white shark. But the angler didn\u2019t leave the shark stranded on the beach. Instead, he hauled it to the shallows, pulled the hook from its mouth, and sent it back out to deeper water. In a very<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14882,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wild-living"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}