A Florida Keys commercial angler who was fishing with his son and another crewman stumbled upon an unexpected — and large — visitor last week in the form of a great white shark that took a lot of interest in the chum bag hanging off the back of their boat they were using to attract yellowtail snapper.
On Monday, Jan. 6, James Paskiewicz was fishing on his 30-foot Island Hopper about five miles off the south side of the Long Key Bridge in roughly 65 feet of water when the shark swam up to the chum bag dripping fish guts off the stern and tore the netting to shreds.
The big fish then whipped its tail against the boat and swam off, Paskiewicz, 46, told the Herald. But, the apex predator wasn’t done yet.
“The shark stayed in the area another 20 minutes then left for a half hour or so. It came back and was even more curious than the first time,” Paskiewicz said. “We had to remove the chum from the water repeatedly as the shark tried to attack it over and over.”
Paskiewicz, who was born and raised in the Keys and has been fishing commercially for almost his entire life, patched up the chum bag and resumed catching yellowtail.
This was actually the third time Paskiewicz has seen a great white out on the water in the Keys, “and I know of at least a half dozen more fishermen who have had interactions with them,” he said.
This one was “relatively small,” Paskiewicz said — between 10 and 12 feet long. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, great whites can grow up to 20 feet long and weigh over 4,000 pounds.
“We were in absolute awe and really took in every moment that this animal was near us,” Paskiewicz said. “It was an incredible experience for me and my crew!”
While great whites are more commonly found hanging around in cooler temperatures north of the Mid-Atlantic East Coast than in the warmer water off South Florida, they are known to pass through here during their migrations.
Mahmood Shivji, professor at Nova Southeastern University’s Department of Biological Sciences and director of the Guy Harvey Research Institute, told the Herald after a sighting of large great white off Cudjoe Key in 2022 that they are long-distance travelers who are know to show up off South Florida and the Keys.
White sharks are “one of a handful of sharks that can keep their body temperatures warm,” allowing them to roam cooler waters, said Shivji, who calls white sharks “absolute marvels of evolution.”
