Sharks have drawn increasingly closer to land in recent years, but none too many Staten Islanders expect to cross paths with one along the South Shore.
Yet that’s exactly what happened to local fisherman Damean Farrell, an Eltingville resident who reeled in a near-four-foot shark off the shore of Oakwood Beach last week. The shark, which Farrell measured at 43 inches, is believed to be a sand tiger shark -- a species which can grow upwards of 10-feet and reach nearly 500 pounds in some regions.
Farrell was located on the beach between Kissam Ave. and Cedar Grove around 1 p.m. last Wednesday. He estimates that his cast was only 20 to 30 yards off the shoreline.
“That was quite the surprise. That was unbelievable,” Farrell, a lifelong fisherman, told the Advance. “I’ve never caught one off the surf like that, only off the pier, and definitely not that big.”
“They’re pretty common, but the girth and size of him and the teeth...I’ve never seen one like that before,” he added.
It certainly had all the features you’d expect of the oceanic predator -- namely the jagged rows of razor-sharp teeth and pointed, fierce-looking head.
Farrell, who was fishing for blue fish and using bunker as bait, recalled the thrill of the moment.
“I was on the phone with a buddy of mine and I turned around and the next thing I know my fishing rod is bent in half touching the sand,” said Farrell, who had his rod in a pole holder. “I didn’t know what was going on.”
But he knew it was no blue fish.
“Oh yeah, right away. There was at least 20 pounds of pressure going against me...It was a shark, I was very surprised,” said Farrell.
“This guy was like reeling in a bowling ball. He would just go limp at the bottom,” he added. “At first I thought I was snagged on a rock, but when I felt him fighting I realized there’s definitely something on the end of it...but it was almost as if I was reeling in a log.”
He estimates that it took about seven minutes to reel in the shark. Farrell was fishing along the side of a rock jetty, which complicated the retrieval.
“I was fishing over some large boulders. I was off the side of it and when I reeled him in he was very heavy and I had to pull him over some very big rocks, and that was kind of straining,” noted Farrell, who promptly released the fish and saw it swim off after removing the hook.
“It wasn’t the most lively looking photo I suppose, he did just take quite a tumble coming over the rocks and that wore him out,” he noted. “He was out of the water for only about five minutes because I had to get the hook out properly.”
“My hands were right up against its teeth, which was pretty nerve-racking,” he added. “I snapped the photo and threw him right back on in. I try very hard to follow all the regulations and make sure its done the way it’s supposed to be.”
Sand tiger sharks dwell in the waters of Japan, Australia, South Africa, and the east coasts of North and South America and are considered to be relatively benign and docile sharks with no confirmed human fatalities recorded. Their diet typically consists of bony fish, crustaceans, squid, skates, and other sharks.
But even Farrell is a little more wary of his oceanic surroundings now.
“As a kid I used to swim in that water,” he said. “I was pretty surprised. I’ve never seen one that big.”
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