A 14-foot great white shark was among the fish caught Monday afternoon off Port Canaveral — if only on camera.
- Great white shark caught off Port Canaveral on Monday
- Boat captain reeled it in, people snapped pictures
- Hook broke after 2 minutes; shark got away
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The boat captain of a deep-sea fishing boat reeled in the great white shark about 20 miles east of Port Canaveral. The shark was hooked in about 100 feet of water, according to a post on Orlando Princess and Canaveral Princess Deep Sea Fishing's Facebook page.
Craig Shaffer, who has been captain of the Canaveral Princess for about 12 years, said it was hooked for about 2 minutes, during which people aboard the boat scrambled to get out their smart phones for pictures. About 22 passengers were with four crew members on the boat, he said.
The shark swam close, where they could verify it was a great white shark, Shaffer said. Then it went toward the bow, rolled and "looked up at us," he said.
Shaffer's deck hand got the pictures of the shark with his cell phone. Soon, the hook broke in half and the fish got away.
The Facebook post stated that the shark was not brought aboard the boat, but it did "put up a nice fight."
"I still have the other piece of the hook," Shaffer said.