SCDiver
Contributor
Story last updated at 6:31 a.m. Tuesday, January 6, 2004
Sighting of toothy giant stuns 2 local fishermen
BY GLENN SMITH
Of The Post and Courier Staff
When a pair of fins broke the ocean's surface about 14 feet apart, Mark Beasenburg thought he was seeing two sunfish at play in the waters off Charleston's coast.
It wasn't until the fins moved closer to his boat that Beasenburg realized they were attached to the same fish, what appeared to be a monstrous great white shark at least 23 feet long.
"I was just in shock," Beasenburg, a local marine towing company manager, said Monday. "I've been in the water all my life, and I've seen a lot of crazy stuff, but I've never seen anything like that ... I've seen a 1,500-pound tiger shark, and this one made that shark look like a Yugo compared to a semi truck."
Beasenburg, 31, and his friend, 32-year-old Danny Mixon of Charleston, spotted the behemoth Friday while fishing for black sea bass about 10 miles out from the Charleston jetties and a mile north of the shipping lane.
The creature was several feet from Beasenburg's 24-foot Boston Whaler when they spotted it at about 4 p.m. They didn't realize what it was until it came alongside the boat.
"I kept telling myself 'It's gotta be a whale, it's gotta be a whale,' " Beasenburg said Monday. "But sure enough, it had a dorsal fin and when it rolled over, its belly was solid white ... Both of us knew then it was a great white shark."
If the pair are right about the shark, it could the largest great white sighted in South Carolina waters, said Charles Farmer, spokesman for the Marine Resources Division of the state Department of Natural Resources.
"That's certainly the largest one ever reported with us," he said. "We've had a couple caught in the last 15 to 20 years, but nothing like this."
As the men went to the middle of the boat, the shark dipped below the surface, Beasenburg said. It reappeared about 30 feet off the boat's stern and started heading toward them at 4 to 5 knots.
"He was coming at us like a submarine," Mixon said.
The shark raced to the boat and then suddenly stopped, just inches from the engines, Beasenburg said.
"He looked at us for about five seconds," Mixon said. "It was a scary thing. This thing was gigantic. Its head was larger than the two twin Johnson 150 (horsepower engines)."
Beasenburg said the shark's head was diamond-shaped and about 6 feet wide. Mixon said it looked like the front end of a Chevrolet pickup truck, tapered and round in the front. It appeared old and had scars along the front of its head.
"We thought he was going to eat the boat," Mixon said.
After staring at the creature in shock for a few seconds, Beasenburg scurried to get his camera, but it disappeared before he could get a shot.
The two men reported their find to the Coast Guard. There have been no other reported sightings of the shark, Coast Guard officials said.
Beasenburg said there were other reports on a local fishing Web site about a very large shark and what appeared to be a whale within days and a few miles of where he and Mixon saw their fish. There has also been talk of a whale carcass in the water, which could have drawn the shark, he said.
Great white sharks prefer colder, deep water and generally don't venture as far south as South Carolina except in the winter months, Farmer said. Still, Beasenburg's description would appear to fit a great white, he said.
"If he's anywhere near in his description, then that's about all it could be, and that would be quite a fish for South Carolina," he said.
Beasenburg said he is an experienced diver and fisherman who has spent his whole life in and around the water. He's seen sharks many times, but nothing like this.
"This was just a monster," he said. "He could have tossed my boat like it was nothing."
THE GREAT WHITE
AVERAGE SIZE: Between 12 and 16 feet long, but they can grow longer than 20 feet.
MAXIMUM WEIGHT: More than 7,000 pounds.
GROWTH RATE: 25-30 cm per year.
NUMBER OF TEETH: About 3,000, arranged in several rows.
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Carcharodon carcharias, which is derived from carcharos meaning "ragged" and odon meaning "tooth."
DIET: Mostly of fish (lingcod, salmon, and tuna), squid, other sharks, cetaceans (dolphins and whales), and pinnipeds (seals and sea lions). They also show a preference for carcasses, especially large whales.
TYPICAL LIFESPAN: No one knows for sure.
SPEED: About 15 mph
Sighting of toothy giant stuns 2 local fishermen
BY GLENN SMITH
Of The Post and Courier Staff
When a pair of fins broke the ocean's surface about 14 feet apart, Mark Beasenburg thought he was seeing two sunfish at play in the waters off Charleston's coast.
It wasn't until the fins moved closer to his boat that Beasenburg realized they were attached to the same fish, what appeared to be a monstrous great white shark at least 23 feet long.
"I was just in shock," Beasenburg, a local marine towing company manager, said Monday. "I've been in the water all my life, and I've seen a lot of crazy stuff, but I've never seen anything like that ... I've seen a 1,500-pound tiger shark, and this one made that shark look like a Yugo compared to a semi truck."
Beasenburg, 31, and his friend, 32-year-old Danny Mixon of Charleston, spotted the behemoth Friday while fishing for black sea bass about 10 miles out from the Charleston jetties and a mile north of the shipping lane.
The creature was several feet from Beasenburg's 24-foot Boston Whaler when they spotted it at about 4 p.m. They didn't realize what it was until it came alongside the boat.
"I kept telling myself 'It's gotta be a whale, it's gotta be a whale,' " Beasenburg said Monday. "But sure enough, it had a dorsal fin and when it rolled over, its belly was solid white ... Both of us knew then it was a great white shark."
If the pair are right about the shark, it could the largest great white sighted in South Carolina waters, said Charles Farmer, spokesman for the Marine Resources Division of the state Department of Natural Resources.
"That's certainly the largest one ever reported with us," he said. "We've had a couple caught in the last 15 to 20 years, but nothing like this."
As the men went to the middle of the boat, the shark dipped below the surface, Beasenburg said. It reappeared about 30 feet off the boat's stern and started heading toward them at 4 to 5 knots.
"He was coming at us like a submarine," Mixon said.
The shark raced to the boat and then suddenly stopped, just inches from the engines, Beasenburg said.
"He looked at us for about five seconds," Mixon said. "It was a scary thing. This thing was gigantic. Its head was larger than the two twin Johnson 150 (horsepower engines)."
Beasenburg said the shark's head was diamond-shaped and about 6 feet wide. Mixon said it looked like the front end of a Chevrolet pickup truck, tapered and round in the front. It appeared old and had scars along the front of its head.
"We thought he was going to eat the boat," Mixon said.
After staring at the creature in shock for a few seconds, Beasenburg scurried to get his camera, but it disappeared before he could get a shot.
The two men reported their find to the Coast Guard. There have been no other reported sightings of the shark, Coast Guard officials said.
Beasenburg said there were other reports on a local fishing Web site about a very large shark and what appeared to be a whale within days and a few miles of where he and Mixon saw their fish. There has also been talk of a whale carcass in the water, which could have drawn the shark, he said.
Great white sharks prefer colder, deep water and generally don't venture as far south as South Carolina except in the winter months, Farmer said. Still, Beasenburg's description would appear to fit a great white, he said.
"If he's anywhere near in his description, then that's about all it could be, and that would be quite a fish for South Carolina," he said.
Beasenburg said he is an experienced diver and fisherman who has spent his whole life in and around the water. He's seen sharks many times, but nothing like this.
"This was just a monster," he said. "He could have tossed my boat like it was nothing."
THE GREAT WHITE
AVERAGE SIZE: Between 12 and 16 feet long, but they can grow longer than 20 feet.
MAXIMUM WEIGHT: More than 7,000 pounds.
GROWTH RATE: 25-30 cm per year.
NUMBER OF TEETH: About 3,000, arranged in several rows.
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Carcharodon carcharias, which is derived from carcharos meaning "ragged" and odon meaning "tooth."
DIET: Mostly of fish (lingcod, salmon, and tuna), squid, other sharks, cetaceans (dolphins and whales), and pinnipeds (seals and sea lions). They also show a preference for carcasses, especially large whales.
TYPICAL LIFESPAN: No one knows for sure.
SPEED: About 15 mph
