A hammerhead shark surprised a group of anglers off Anna Maria Island on Monday morning.
- William Osborne was fishing off Bean Point when hammerhead surfaced
- Video shows hammerhead going after tarpon
- Osborne said he thinks same shark took another tarpon from him last week
William Osborne, who is a charter captain and tarpon angler out of Anna Maria Island, was fishing a few hundred yards off Bean Point when the hammerhead surfaced near his boat.
Osborne caught video of the hammerhead as it swam around the boats and went after a tarpon he was trying to bring in.
Osborne said he'd had another encounter a few days earlier with a hammerhead shark who took a massive bite off another tarpon he was trying to land. He suspects the same hammerhead was involved in both tarpon attacks.
William Osborne said a hammerhead had eaten half of a tarpon he was trying to land a few days earlier. He suspects it may have been the same shark in both incidents. (William Osborne)
"I tried to get the hammerhead off the fish by spinning around the attack with my motor, but it still managed to get a hold of the tarpon unfortunately," he said.
Osborne said the hammerhead appeared to be about 13 feet long and possibly weighed about 1,000 pounds.
Hammerhead sharks can be found in tropical waters around the world, including the Gulf of Mexico.
While potentially dangerous due to their size, hammerheads rarely attack humans. According to the International Shark Attack File, hammerheads have reportedly only bitten 17 people, and none of those were fatal.