SANIBEL, Fla., Aug. 2 (UPI) -- A trio of Florida fishermen shared photos and video of their "fish of a lifetime" -- a 13-foot hammerhead shark landed off Sanibel Island.

Cullem Guthrie, Maison Rosanti and Nick Manzari said they were using a stingray as bait while fishing from the shore of the island last week when they snagged the hammerhead about 200 yards from the beach.


The men said it took about 30 minutes to bring the hammerhead to knee-deep water, where they captured photos and video before cutting the line and releasing the shark.

"He swam off beautifully, on his own power, just swam away with his big dorsal fin out the water, on the sunrise. It was absolutely amazing," Rosanti told WINK-TV.

Guthrie, who posted photos of the catch to Facebook, described it as "the fish of a lifetime."

"They're beautiful creatures and no one, people don't really understand how big and how great and how strong these animals actually are so it's an amazing feeling to actually bring something like that in and then to be able to bring it in and set it free and catch it again when it's four or five feet longer," Rosanti said.