Our record catch! Pals land 18st shark off Cornwall ... then throw the monster back
STRUGGLING to hold their mighty catch, these four fishermen had something to celebrate.
For they had just landed the biggest blue shark ever caught in British waters. Weighing 256lb (18st 4lb), it beat the record of 214lb which stood for 58 years.
Amateur anglers John Dine, Simon Putnam and two friends took an hour to reel in the 9ft fish seven miles off Penzance, Cornwall. They heaved it aboard their 30ft boat for a picture before releasing it back into the sea. The four, from Essex, hope it will be certified as a record for a blue shark.
The skipper of their boat, Robin Chapman, said: ‘As soon as they hooked the shark up we knew it was big, it went off like an absolute steam train. Luckily the wire and hook held fast, enabling them to haul it on board.’
John McMaster, of the Shark Angling Club of Great Britain, said: ‘We have received the application. I expect an announcement stating a new record within the next day or two. The fish is very, very big – an absolute whopper.’
The biggest shark caught in British waters was a 507lb porbeagle landed off Dunnet Head, Scotland in 1993, although a thresher caught and released off the Isle of Wight in 2013 is believed to have weighed 550lb.