PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. (WSVN) — A group of fishermen spotted a 12-foot great white shark off the coast of Florida, Wednesday.
Stunning video captured the marine predator swimming around the “Canaveral Princess,” about 25 miles off Port Canaveral. “It can’t get any better than that,” said one boat passenger.
Another passenger said they had gone deep sea fishing when the giant fish surfaced. “It’s very out of the ordinary,” said Christine Carr. whose family owns the fishing business behind the expedition.
But what’s even more out of the ordinary is that this same fishing company saw a different great white, two weeks ago. The crew got pictures after the captain hooked the 14-footer on his line.
“It was very exciting for all the passengers that were on the boat, and it’s gotten a lot of excitement on Facebook,” said Carr.
Carr said the social media exposure is beneficial for the entire area. “We’ve got great things to do here at Port Canaveral, and now this is one of those things we can add to this list. Now you can go off shore and see great whites, possibly,” she said.
Some tourists in the area wondered what they would do if they were on a boat for such a close encounter. “I would be a little scared,” said one tourist.
“I’m from St. Louis. We don’t get that kind of stuff in St. Louis. That’s huge!” said another tourist.
When asked whether she would like to see a great white up close, an elderly woman replied, “Not right by shore, but way out there. They can stay out there and I’ll be happy with that.”
The deep sea fishing crew said neither shark appeared to be tagged.
The video of Wednesday’s great white encounter was posted on Facebook last week and racked up about 2,000 comments, likes and shares in one day.
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