BARNEGAT LIGHT, NJ – Commercial fishermen never really know what they’re going to find when they pull up their nets, but Ocean County fisherman Timothy Brindley never expected what he found. Brindley and his crew of the Viking Rose were trawling out in the Atlantic Ocean just 2 1/2 miles off the coast of Barnegat Light when he saw a Great White Shark in his net as it was pulled out of the ocean.
Brindley said he’s pretty sure the shark was already dead and laying on the bottom of the ocean when he pulled it in.
“The thing smelled rotten and the skin was falling off the body,” Brindley said. “It was caught in my extension of the trawl. He said after pulling it on board to document he threw it back into the ocean.”
The shark was approximately ten to twelve feet in length. It’s the second time this summer that sharks made the news in LBI. In July sharks attacked a wounded dolphin in the surf just a few miles away. You can watch that video here.
Brindley said he was out fishing the waters of the Atlantic Ocean as he has done for 53 years. At the age of 17, he got his first boat. He works out of the Viking Village Commercial Fishing Dock on Long Beach Island which is home to over 40 commercial fishing boats.
Although he got ribbed by other fishermen for his story, Brindley said that doesn’t phase him at all.
“I’ve been fishing out of Barnegat Light for 42 years and never experienced anything like this,” Brindley said.
His boat, the Viking Rose is a 46 foot Wedge Port built in Nova Scotia. It will surely be a tale to pass on to future generations in his family. One thing is for sure, if you’re in water and it tastes or smells like salt, there’s probably a shark around you somewhere…maybe not a such a large great white, but the ocean is, after all, their home, not ours.
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