WARNING: CONTAINS GRAPHIC CONTENT
Fishermen were recently shocked to stumble upon the ‘find of a lifetime’ while out at sea, having realised that the massive shark they’d just reeled in had actually been eaten by something even bigger. Watch what happened below:
In a video posted on 3 April, we see Sammy Hitzke and Shaune Whale finally reeling in the ‘massive’ thresher shark they’d been struggling with for four-and-a-half hours.
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But as the beast emerged from the deep, the two fishermen realised there was a large chunk missing, saying it looked like the shark had ‘been sharked’.
Hitzke, a 'full-time fishing fin-atic' from Brisbane, Australia, says in the clip as they pull the thresher in: “That’s pretty crazy. Woah, woah, woah.”
Saying the catch is ‘proper epic’, Hitzke adds: “And that’s not even all of it, he’s got three-quarters of himself missing!”
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After managing to hoist the shark onto their boat, the two fishermen realise just how big their catch is.
“That is a proper monster of the deep,” Hitzke – who regularly shares fishing content on his YouTube page, Sammy Hitzke Fishing – says.
After the moment begins to sink in, Whale reflects on the mauled shark in front of him.
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He says to the camera: "I’m absolutely exhausted and a little bit devastated, but still, this might be the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in the ocean.
"I’ve done a lot of fishing, spent a lot of time out on the big blue, and not once did I think it was a thresher shark eaten by something that I only imagine was absolutely massive.”
Saying the creature is a ‘true predator of the depths’, an excited Whale adds: “That’s bigger than me, just the tail part!”
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Clearly still stunned, he continues: “He’s a proper legend of – well, was a legend of – the deep, but now he's just food for another shark. It’s a pretty tough world out here.
“But I’ll tell you what, this might be the most epic thing I’ve ever seen offshore.”
Looking down at the animal, Hitzke says in disbelief: “That a find of a lifetime, that is."
Later in the video, the duo stumble upon an even bigger shark – which they believe may have been the ‘culprit’.
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“There we go, ladies and gentlemen,” Whale says as they reel the shark in closer.
“That’s epic! It really is.”
The two let the huge shark go, with Hitzke saying with a grin: “That was pretty cool.”
Watch the full video on Hitzke’s YouTube channel here.
Jess Hardiman