The jaw-dropping moment was captured on camera by crew aboard a boat in Goodland, Florida. Captain John Brossard was left flabbergasted after a huge Atlantic grouper devoured a blacknose shark he caught and snapped his fishing line. The Captain expressed his and the crew’s surprise after the shark they hooked was swallowed in one bite by a bigger fish.
Captain Brossard was sailing out of the US city of Goodland, Florida, when the Atlantic grouper fish took off with their catch.
In the moment, which he and his crew have described as “unbelievable”, the marine creatures also broke the fisherman’s line in the process.
Mr Brossard said: “Basically we were shark fishing when all of a sudden two or three goliath groupers started hanging out under the boat waiting for our catch to come in.
“We were just thinking ‘wow, unbelievable! Something is going to eat a shark and it’s bigger than a shark.’
“We were very surprised. Basically it ate the shark, and took down and broke the line.
“We were using a 50-pound test line and that was not enough.”
Mr Brossard said the initial catch was a blacknose shark, estimated at three feet in length, before it was seized by the grouper.
He predicted that the grouper fish weighed some 500lbs, hence the broken line.
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“Bull sharks have been seen getting eaten by crocodiles and alligators sometimes, and sharks also get eaten by bigger fish there.”
He described the area as being “pretty wild”, suggesting the menagerie of sea creatures is part of its appeal.
John said: “Where we fish it is pretty wild. That’s the reason we fish there – and what we like to catch is big fish.
“They are all predators in the Everglades. You don’t wanna get lost there and have to walk or swim home.”
The incident has left captain John Brossard, who runs Shark Chaser Charters, questioning whether sharks really are something to be terrified of.
He said: “Do they deserve all the hype?
“I think sometimes yes and sometimes no, but most of the time no.
“Of course, if you get in their way, in their territory and the water is dirty, yes, they will taste you to see if you are good eating.”