It was meant to be an ordinary session on the beach. Instead, Elliot Sudal found himself in waist-deep water beside a 300-pound great white shark, unhooking a federally protected animal while dozens of onlookers filmed every second.
Sudal — an experienced shark tagger who works the waters around Nantucket — was fishing the island's south shore on Sunday with apprentice Stone Fornes and fellow angler Nathan Skerritt when the white took his bait. He only realised what he had as it came in close. "Saw the spotted pectoral fin flash in a wave and just focused," he said.
The fish ran an estimated 8.5 to 9 feet and about 300 pounds. Because he fishes barbless circle hooks and heavy tackle built for quick releases, Sudal had it back in the water in roughly 15 seconds. The footage that went viral this week shows him alongside the shark in the wash before it surged off. "I mean, it was just crazy. I was hugging it," he told CBS News. "She swam off strong — not something we will ever forget."
Even a veteran was shaken. "I was excited and stressed," Sudal said. "On Nantucket specifically, I have caught over 1,000 sandbar, brown sharks and then hundreds of dusky sharks. That was the first great white." The crowd and the law were both on his mind. "It's cool, but it's a responsibility," he said. "There's 50 people with cameras around and it is a protected species, and they are endangered." And to anyone questioning his intent: "You can't pick what picks up your bait. Yes, this happened, and I felt like I handled the situation correctly."
The encounter fits a pattern scientists have tracked for years. John Chisholm, an adjunct scientist at the New England Aquarium, said warming water is drawing more white sharks up the coast. "Sightings are starting to increase. The water is getting warmer and the sharks are migrating north," he said. His message to beachgoers was to stay alert without panicking. "People need to be aware the sharks are here. This is their home, and when you go into their home, you need to be prepared. Be aware. I can't say it enough. And the other side of that coin: if you see one, report it."
For Kristen Smith, outreach manager at the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, the rebound is a conservation win that anglers and swimmers simply have to plan around. "It is incredibly exciting to see the species come back year in and year out," she said, urging people to stay waist deep or less, avoid murky water, and steer clear of seals and bait schools.
Sudal sees the change first-hand. "Everything has been showing up earlier the last few years — sandbar sharks, duskys, sand tigers, roughtail rays," he said. "That was the first white I've hooked in 13 years on Nantucket."
