Fishermen stunned as massive shark jumps on boat: 'Went ballistic'
A fishing crew in New Zealand was given a 'fright' when a two-and-a-half metre Mako shark flew onto the front of their boat.
Ryan Churches, the owner of Churchy’s Charters in Whitianga on the North Island, says they had their lines in when the underwater beast got “a little bit too close coming up to the boat” and got caught on the rod.
“[We were] just fishing away for some king fish and yeah we hooked one of them [a Mako shark] and it went ballistic and jumped on the boat,” he told the Today show on Wednesday.
Incredibly one of the fishermen on board caught the moment on camera. In the clip, which has since gone viral, a man can first be seen standing against the side of the boat fishing. Suddenly a loud noise is heard as the shark’s body lands with a deep thud on the tin of the vessel.
As the camera spins around, fellow fisherman can be heard yelling out “woo” and “holy-” before the lens finds the mako shark flopping around on the front of the boat. The person behind the camera is forced to turn it sideways to ensure the entire creature is captured.
“So it jumped up on the boat and we were all facing the fisherman, thinking the fish was going the other way, and got a bit of a fright as you can see,” Mr Churches continued. “After about a couple of minutes he thankfully slid off the front which was really the best outcome than having to go up there and try get him off.”
“[We were] pretty stumped on what was going to happen if he didn’t go out the front,” he said, adding that “it was a bit crazy” and that he hopes it doesn’t happen again.
Social media blew up over the footage with one person claiming that you “couldn’t write that script". “Holy s**t,” said another, “that’s wild mate.” While someone else added that it “would have been a brown undies moment for sure.”
While many were left questioning how the shark got itself down, Churchy’s Charters responded that they were “very lucky to have a windscreen after all that!”
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