Shark Attacks Fisherman’s Boat 3 Times In Waters Of Gulf Of Mexico [Video]

A shark attack was a near-miss for a fisherman in his boat while in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. In a video that’s buzzing on Facebook, a great white shark is seen circling a fisherman’s boat and striking it three times.

My Panhandle reports that the incident happened Monday morning when Captain Scott Fitzgerald of Madfish Charters in Panama City, Florida was about eight miles out in the gulf when he felt a large bump on his boat.

The FWC has confirmed that the close call shark attack was caused by a great white. It bit down on the boat’s trolling motor and Fitzgerald jumped up to pull the motor out of the shark’s jaws. The drama wasn’t over after that. The fisherman noticed the shark circling his boat and took a video of it with his cell phone. After the shark struck the boat three times, Fitzgerald decided it was time to vacate the area.

“He had the entire trolling motor in his mouth, and was moving it side to side, and it was shaking the boat,” Fitzgerald says.

“I’ve been chartering for nine years, and I’ve never seen a shark try to attack my boat. It was very exciting for all of us. It really got our hearts beating hard.”

According to the report, the FWC is investigating what prompted the shark to attack the boat in the manner it did.

In Australia, a great white shark attacked a boat that contained two fisherman in it. The incident occurred about an hour from Blacksmiths Beach, Yahoo News reports.

The shark circled and swam underneath the fisherman’s small boat before its fin hit the bottom of it. One of the fishermen said if the boat had been any smaller, it would have taken in more water after the apparent shark attack on the boat. The Inquisitr also reported on this story, which can be read more in-depth here.

Australia is experiencing a number of beach closures due to shark activity. Manly Beach was just reopened after it closed due to a shark sighting, and Newcastle beaches were shut down for 9 days. Beach inspectors search for sharks while flying helicopters, refusing to reopen beaches until no sighting of them has happened for at least 24 hours. Many swimmers at Manly Beach were in the water after it reopened, undeterred by the sharks.

Almost every day a shark attack of some sort is making news, whether they’re striking a boat or actually injuring a person.

[Photo Credit: My Panhandle]