Coming face to face with a shark seems terrifying, but for a teen from Australia, he relishes the chance to catch the beast with his bare hands.
Max Muggeride, 19, is known for catching sharks along the Australian coast with more than 200 catches so far, Buzzfeed reports. The teen is a lifeguard from Coomera in Queensland and uses his bare hands to bring in the animals.
Most recently, Muggeride brought in a shark that was more than 12-feet long and weighed an estimated 881 pounds, according to Buzzfeed. In an video interview with Today Show Australia, Muggeride said his skill of catching sharks is good for research, where he focuses on the tendencies of the animals in the area.
“I do all my fishing off the beach. We use marlin reels, we kayak baits off the shore –anywhere from 400-600 meters out – then we sit back and wait for the bite,” he said.
“It’s all for research, to get a bit of understanding about the sharks, what they’re doing, what time of year they’re moving up and down the coastline: just to gain a bit of knowledge. I use special non-barbed circular hooks that stick in the corner of the jaw and slip out in less than five seconds. Then it’s a quick tag, a quick photo and they’re back in the water within 60 seconds.”
Muggeride also bagged a hammerhead shark that was more than 12-feet-long off an Australian beach. If only he could've helped one California kayaker, who encountered a hammerhead earlier this week while trying to fish.
Read more and see photos on Buzzfeed.
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