'It literally took my breath away': Researcher reels in a 1,000 pound bull shark off Florida coastline

As soon as he began to pull on the fishing line Neil Hammerschlag could tell this was no ordinary catch.

'We didn't know if we were pulling up a sunken boat, a monster shark, a school bus — we had no idea which it was,' Hammerschlag told OurAmazingPlanet.

It turned out to be a monster - a 10 foot long bull shark weighing in at over 1,000 pounds, to be precise. 

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What a catch: Neil Hammerschlag was blown away when he pulled in a 10 foot long, 1,000 pound female bull shark near the Florida Keys on May 27

'As soon as it came to the surface, it literally took my breath away, it was so big,' Hammerschlag said of the beast caught in the Florida Keys.

Hammerschlag, a shark researcher and professor at the University of Miami, spends every other weekend hunting for sharks in Southern Florida.

He has caught more than a thousand sharks over the years, which he and his team label with either a satellite tag or an ID tag, take muscle and fin samples, as well as a vial of blood before releasing the animal back into the ocean.  

And, on May 27, Hammerschlag and his team tagged their biggest shark to date.

The scientist says that he can usually bring in a line by himself but this time he needed a colleague to help.

Hauling it in, the massive, female bull shark took their breath away, Hammerschlag said.


Shark Hunter: The researchers caught the massive animal in the reefs near the Florida Keys, they released the bull shark back into the deep blue after tagging it with an I.D

The researchers estimated that it weighed more than 1000 pounds. Bull sharks tend to weigh between 200 and 500 pounds. 

After fitting the massive shark with an ID tag they released her back into the deep blue. A blood sample will determine whether or not she is pregnant.

Bull sharks are the region’s top predator and, like other species, females tend to be larger than males.

Both male and female bull sharks have the most testosterone of any animal on the planet, according to Hammerschlag.

Like great white sharks and tiger sharks they have serrated teeth which allow them to tear apart their meals and go after bigger prey.

Frighteningly, Bull sharks also like to swim in shallow, coastal waters and are unusual in their ability to survive in freshwater.

They have previously been found in rivers around the world, including the Mississippi river.

Hammerschlag reassured Our Animal Planet that the sharks don’t specifically target humans: 'They possess the machinery but lack the motivation.’

That said, experts often say that Bull sharks are the most dangerous in the world and are often blamed for unprovoked, deadly attacks.

Of the 29 shark attacks in the U.S. last year, 11 happened in Florida. None were fatal.

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