‘That’s a great white’: Shark snags striper from fishermen off Cape Cod

A group of fishermen looking to catch some striped bass during a charter expedition off Cape Cod on Monday had their trip interrupted by a great white shark.

While reeling in a striper southeast of Chatham, near the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, a fisherman aboard a vessel run by Magellan Deep Sea Fishing Charters had his catch nearly ripped in half by the large shark, according to a post on the charter company’s Facebook page.

“We had a visitor on yesterday’s trip,” the company said. “A 12-foot great white shark grabbed a striper — well, most of it — off the line.”

In the roughly one-minute video, which is loaded with “very strong language,” the fisherman can be seen trying to bring the striper toward the boat when the shark’s dorsal and caudal fins suddenly appear, cutting through the choppy ocean waves.

“That’s a great white shark!” someone on the boat shouts. “That’s what that is.”

Cynthia Wigren, president of the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, confirmed in an e-mail after watching the video that the fishermen had encountered a great white. Wigren verified the shark’s ID with experts from the state Division of Marine Fisheries, she said.

Later in the video, the fisherman holding the rod continues to try to reel in his catch, bringing the shark ever closer to the Magellan, which launched out of Harwich Port.

When the shark is nearly up against the boat, it bites into the striper, eliciting excitement from those on board the boat.

“How about that,” one person yells.

The boat’s passengers then reach for the striper, after the shark swims away. When they pull it from the water, one of the fisherman holds up the fish to show the person behind the camera the bite marks left by the shark.

This isn’t the first time this summer that a great white stole the show, snatching away someone’s prized catch.

Earlier this month, a great white shark approached a fishing charter boat in Cape Cod Bay, jumping out of the water and taking a bite out of a striped bass being hauled aboard.