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Florida father and son have close encounter with hammerhead shark

By Ben Hooper
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June 13 (UPI) -- A Florida father and son out for a ride on a charter boat had an extremely close encounter with an 11 to 14 foot long hammerhead shark.

Capt. Jason Lineberger of Ruthless Charters said the McKeown family was out for a cruise off Anna Maria Island when they spotted the shark nearby.

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The video shows John McKeown, decked out in a shirt and shorts printed with shark images, sitting at the front of the boat with his 6-year-old son, John Jr.

The elder McKeown reaches out of the boat and nearly touches the shark's fin before it abruptly changes direction and swims away.

McKeown said his son was particularly impressed with the encounter.

"He has been talking about his pet hammerhead 'sharky' for 48 hours now," the father told WWSB-TV.

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