A New Port Richey couple got the scare of their life while underwater spearfishing in the Gulf of Mexico.
The couple says a 10 -to-11-foot tiger shark wanted their fish and was getting aggressive.
Elijah Green has caught many fish over the years. But what Elijah caught on camera on the Fourth of July was way too big for the tip of his spear gun.
"I looked off to my right and I see a 10-to-11 foot tiger shark come up and try to take the fish off of our stringer," Green said.
Green was spearfishing with his girlfriend, Maddie Givens, in the gulf about 20 miles off the coast of Fort De Soto Park.
"As I turned around, it was like right next to me." Givens said. "I was like, 'oh my gosh, that is a tiger shark/ So, my heart started pounding. I was so scared."
The New Port Richey couple say the tiger shark was aggressive and kept coming back even after being poked with the spear gun.
"I poked him a couple of times with the spear gun and it didn't seem to affect him," Green said.
Green captured that shark video with a GoPro camera that he mounted to his spear gun.
Givens says she thought the shark was going to attack when they stopped at 15 feet to do a safety check.
"I was just sitting there looking out for the fish,” Givens said. “At one point, Eli and I were back-to-back. He got one side, I got the other side and we were just like looking around and the shark just shot up from the bottom 60 feet all the way up to 15 feet. And it just started coming directly at us."
Maddie says at one point, the shark swam away for a few minutes, giving the couple enough time to get into the boat.
"Once we got into the boat, the shark came back up and started circling around the boat," Givens said.
It's a fish tale the couple have the video to prove.
Elijah says he speared a grouper and that's what likely attracted the big tiger shark.