WHEN 29-year-old American fisherman Jesse Kresse docked his boat in Freeport Texas recently, he had an unexpected catch – an 8-foot long mako shark.
While anglers catching makos is nothing new, this capture was out of the ordinary because the shark had jumped onboard!
CBS News.com reported that Kresse was fishing for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico about 50 miles off the coast of Texas when the mako encounter occurred. His crew was dumping berley in the water when the shark, in an apparent rush to feed, landed in the back of the boat.
It reportedly began thrashing around and the crew couldn’t get close enough to throw the 375-pound mako back into the water. It died several hours later.
The crew didn’t have a permit to catch sharks, so Kresse contacted federal officials on shore. A spokesman with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, said no violations were incurred because the shark’s death was accidental.
The mako is currently on display at a seafood business in Freeport.