FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A 12-year-old boy from Massachusetts caught a great white shark on Tuesday while deep sea fishing off Fort Lauderdale.
Cambell Keenan, of Boston, was with Fort Lauderdale Fishing Charters when he caught the apex predator before the fishermen tagged it, and released it at 301 Seabreeze Blvd.
“It took out drag, and I was like, ‘Is this thing going to pull me in?’ Because I was just scared,” Cambell said.
The professionals, Capt. Paul Palucci and David Jackson, were among those who stepped in to help him for about 45 minutes. His catch: The 130-inch-long female weighing about 450 pounds.
Cambell’s mother, Colleen Keenan, said the experience was scary at first.
“We had to hold onto him. We had to make sure he wasn’t going to go off the boat. He had to hold on to the reel, and he was strapped in and not really,” Cambell’s mother said.
Palucci said the catch was rare. For Cambell, it was his biggest accomplishment while fishing.
“The biggest fish that I ever caught before this was a 25-inch striper,” Cambell said.
Scientists are helping to raise awareness about the sharks’ presence. Ocearch, a nonprofit marine research foundation conducting satellite tracking studies, reported tracking two greats on Jan. 14 to Florida’s Atlantic Coast.
Ironbound, a 12-foot 4-inch adult male weighing about 1,190 pounds, pinged at about 7:35 a.m., east of Biscayne Bay. Maple, an 11-foot 7-inch sub-adult female weighing about 1,264 pounds, pinged at about 8:15 a.m., east of Key Largo.
Ocearch’s studies showed that some North Atlantic great white sharks migrate to Florida for the winter.
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Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editor Alexa Velez contributed to this report.