Great white shark attacks fisherman's boat in Gulf

Katie E. King | Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Great white shark attacks fisherman's boat in Panama City Beach Great white shark circles Captain Scott Fitzgerald's boat in Panama City Beach on Monday, Jan. 19.

PENSACOLA, Fla. — Fishermen who have seen a Panama City Beach man's recent video on Facebook might be thinking, "I'm going to need a bigger boat."

Scott Fitzgerald of Madfish Charters was fishing for amberjack Monday morning about 8.5 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico when he felt a big bump in his boat.

A great white shark was attacking the trolling motor on his 22-foot Sea Hunt.

"He knocked the boat 2 feet to the side, then grabbed the trolling motor and started shaking it in his mouth," Fitzgerald said. "That's when I ran up front and pulled it out of his mouth."

Fitzgerald let the boat drift for a while and captured several cellphone videos of the shark circling the boat.

"Every time I put (the motor) back into the water he would go after it again," said Fitzgerald. "I've never seen anything like it."

When the shark attacked the motor a third time, Fitzgerald left the area.

According to Fitzgerald, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has confirmed that the shark in the video is a great white and the agency is investigating what might have caused the shark to attack the boat.