Elliot Sudal, a 24-year-old Florida native, was photographed wrestling a shark onto the shore in Nantucket over July 4th weekend. It took Sudal 45 minutes to reel in the predator, 7 foot sand shark, reports CNN.
This has become somewhat on a hobby on top of regular fishing for him. He estimates he’s caught and released around 100 sharks in the past year.
He studied environmental science and made it clear he would never hurt a shark. “I just played around with this guy,” he said. “I love the feeling — it’s like a connection with the animal.”
With all the great white sightings off the coast of Cape Cod recently and the cinematic masterpiece Sharknado, public interest over sharks has heightened.
It’s also sparked an interest in him. He says he’s been contacted by about 100 women he’s never met before after the picture of him wrestling the shark was published in the paper.