A fisherman attempting to land a sailfish was suddenly confronted by a 740-pound mako shark that flew out of the water just feet away before splashing down next to the boat.
The incident occurred recently off the coast of Miami aboard a charter boat with skipper Mark Quartiano, better known as Mark the Shark. The fisherman was a local Miami chef, Joe Bonavita, 38.
The video shows the sailfish being chased by the mako shark. The sailfish took a quick turn near the boat as the mako shark lunged at the prey, just missing as it leaped into the air.
“We had never seen a shark get that close to the boat,” Quartino said in a post on Stuff.co.nz. “It was just a really cool thing that happened.
“The shark actually bumped against the GoPro that a crew member had on a selfie stick.”
Quartino explained that this was just a normal fishing trip, and Bonavita was trying to reel in a sailfish when the mako shark interrupted the battle.
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“Everybody was going crazy,” Quartino said.
The video shows Bonavita losing the sailfish, after which Quartino began yelling to the crew to get a bait in the water. Which they did. The crew tossed out a big tuna fish and the mako shark bit. Bonavita wound up catching the 11-foot mako shark.
A great eating fish, the mako was donated to a homeless shelter.
“All of our sharks go to Camillus House, a homeless shelter in Miami,” Quartiano said. “We don’t want any of the meat wasted.”
