# Georgia Great White Article and Photo



## huntfish (Feb 27, 2008)

Web posted Saturday, March 11, 2000






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  Great White Shark sighting off the coast of Georgia near St. Catherine's Island. 
-- courtesy of Eric Adamski

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A great white adventure 

Local fisherman encounters huge shark. 


By Gail Krueger 
Savannah Morning News 

Chris Curry has the fish story to end all fish stories.

He and four friends encountered a true rarity Sunday -- a great white shark of enormous size. Curry estimates the shark was at least 25 feet long.

"We're all excited now that the fear is past," Curry said. "We were real glad to see it. I don't know why it chose us. It's pretty amazing. We're honored."

Curry, a physical therapist for the St. Joseph's/Candler Health System, tells the story like this:

He and his friends were drifting in his 26-foot boat "Catillac" bottom fishing for sea bass 30 miles due east of St. Catherines Island. They caught some bass and hooked several 10-foot sharks that broke their lines and got away while they were in about 75 feet of water.

Then -- about 1 p.m. -- a huge shark loomed up from under the boat. It did not break the surface; instead it glided under the water "like an airplane in the sky." It came broadside to the starboard -- the right side -- of the boat.

"Its tail was near the bow and its head was near the stern," Curry said.

"We were tremendously scared. It was disbelief. It was huge, it could have destroyed the boat. It was exactly like the movie ('Jaws'), and we all had a good look," Curry said.

The shark moved off. It immediately returned, making a second pass about midships. By that time, Eric Adamski, one of the fishing party, had grabbed his camera. The shark circled under the bow and swam away -- its tail almost hitting the side of the boat -- as Adamski snapped pictures.

Curry said they pulled in all their gear, not wanting to entice the shark with any of their catch. Then they sat silent for a while. Then they went home.

Matt Gilligan, head of the marine biology department at Savannah State University, has seen the photos and talked to Curry.

"There's no doubt that it was a huge great white shark," Gilligan said.

Great whites are nomads of the sea. Gilligan describes them as a cosmopolitan species seen in a wide range of water temperatures, but seldom seen in Georgia. A 5-foot great white was caught off Crescent in 1994 -- one of about four confirmed catches in Georgia.

Great whites tend to like deep water near rocky points where they feed on seals, walruses and other pinnipeds. Here, they could feed on loggerhead sea turtles and right whale calves. But they also eat fish of all sizes, squid and even crabs.

Gilligan is not convinced the shark Curry saw was 25 feet. Since the shark never broke the surface, some of the size could be a result of magnification from the water.

"I'll have to question that (the 25-foot length)," Gilligan said. "There's never been a confirmed sighting bigger than 22 feet and since this never broke the water, we can't confirm it."

Gilligan said there is more bogus information about the size of great white sharks than any other animal. Most of it's bunk, he said.

"But I'd agree that they saw a really big shark -- more than 20 feet -- but that's as far as I'll go," Gilligan said.

Great white sharks of all sizes are federally protected species. It's illegal to land one in a boat -- about the last thing Curry wanted to do. If one is accidentally caught on a line, the line must be cut and the fish never taken into the boat.

Sharks of all kinds are in trouble from over-fishing, Gilligan said. But great whites suffer more than most. They only have a few babies -- called pups -- at a time. And they don't give birth very often, he said.

What are the chances of Curry or anybody else encountering this particular great white again? Few, if any, Gilligan said.

"This was a chance occurrence," he said. "It's not like it was going to put up a mailbox."

Curry has truly seen a rarity -- and he's going fishing again this weekend.


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## huntfish (Feb 27, 2008)

Here's the link.

http://www.georgiasaltwatercharters.com/greatwhite.html


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## Wetzel (Feb 27, 2008)

That's neat.

Smart guy to remember to grab the camera before it left.


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## Parker Phoenix (Feb 27, 2008)

Looked 25 foot to me.....Bigger if I had been in the boat.


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## caught (Feb 27, 2008)

Thanks for posting. Me and a few friends have the bright idea of going scuba diving this weekend to try to stack up on lobster before season gos out. I know what I will be thinking of during the 3.5hr boat ride out to the deep stuff. Nothing like a night dive in 150feet of water knowing your sharing space with a 20ft white shark!


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## Juan De (Feb 27, 2008)

I'll never swim in the ocean again, not scared of them just not going asking for trouble. Love to catch shark they are a great fighting fish, and some are right tastey


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## larpyn (Feb 27, 2008)

caught said:


> Thanks for posting. Me and a few friends have the bright idea of going scuba diving this weekend to try to stack up on lobster before season gos out. I know what I will be thinking of during the 3.5hr boat ride out to the deep stuff. Nothing like a night dive in 150feet of water knowing your sharing space with a 20ft white shark!



a ph will take care of 'em as long as you can see 'em.
it's the ones i don't see that i worry about 
that's why i don't dive at night


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