In this Aug. 11, 2016, photo, a great white shark swims past researchers as they chum the ocean looking for sharks in the waters off Gansbaai, South Africa. A 12-year-old boy caught a great white shark in Florida.
Schalk van Zuydam, Associated Press
Nothing could have prepared 12-year-old Campbell Keenan for when he caught a great white shark while fishing in Florida.
Here’s what we know.
12-year-old catches great white in Florida
Keenan, from Massachusetts and an avid fisherman, was deep-sea fishing with his family while visiting Fort Lauderdale this week when what seemed like a slow day on the water turned wild, according to CBS News.
“Well, it was a pretty slow day, we were just catching some fish, and then all of sudden, when they starting reeling it in, it took out drag, and I was like, ‘Is this thing going to pull me in?’ Because I was just scared,” Keenan told WSVN.
News Channel 8 reported that everyone on the boat had only realized after about 45 minutes of reeling that the fish they caught was a big one and eventually saw that it was a great white shark.
“We realized it was a shark when it was like 20 feet away, probably, and we had to get it in. We put this, like, buoy on it to make it not go under,” Keenan told ABC News.
What were the reactions to the boy who caught a shark?
The New York Post reported that one of the crew members yelled during the ordeal, “you guys got a giant great white. This is like the most sought-after fish in the ocean.”
While the crew said it would be a “no-brainer” to put the fish on the wall, Keenan decided with his family to tag the fish and release it back into the ocean, according to CBS News.
“I was so excited for him because he loves fishing so much, and this is like the best you could ever imagine,” Keenan’s mother Colleen said, per WSVN. “and once we found out it was a great white, it was just, we were through the roof.”