The social media has been buzzing about photos showing images of a huge shark caught by a vessel off the coast of Australia.
A giant marine predator was reportedly caught by a fishing vessel, and images of it were uploaded by Geoff Brooks on his Facebook account. The image went viral and was able to reach the news industry. Brooks even told the dailymail that "as far as I'm aware; it was a kill order on a shark here on the far north coast that was identified as being responsible for a local attack."
Later on, marine conservation non-profit group, Positive Change for Marine Life, reached out on Brook's Facebook page and identified the sea creature stating that;
"it does look like a Tiger Shark as indicated by the shape of its teeth. White Sharks have triangular teeth while Tiger Sharks have curved cusps with serrated edges as seen here. Tiger Sharks are listed as near threatened by the IUCNred list and population trends are unknown."
Tiger shark could usually grow up to 20 to 25 feet (6 to 7.5 meters) and weigh up to 1,900 pounds (900 kilograms). And as to the description of a spokesman for the non-profit group, Karl Goodsell, stated that the shark seen on the viral photos is approximately 3.5 to 4 meters (11.5 to 13 feet) long, implying that it is a sexually mature adult.
Local news source, northernstar, reported that the impressive haul was done by a fisherman named Matthew off the Tweed Coast. The event resulted from the shark's attempt of swallowing a hammerhead shark being reeled by Matthew's team. And this great catch somehow answers the call for a cull after series of shark attacks were reported off the coast of New South Wales. For there have been already 12 reported shark-related incidents since February and many of them occurring in July alone. [click link for photo]
