March 15 (UPI) -- A pair of Alabama fishing guides and their clients unexpectedly reeled in a great white shark in what is believed to be the first time a member of the species has been caught from a beach in the state.
Dylan Wier and Blaine Kenny, the Pensacola-based owners of fishing guide service Coastal World Wide, said they were on Orange Beach in the early morning hours of March 7 when something started to pull on one of their heavy-duty lines.
The men said they initially thought they might have hooked a large tiger shark, but at the end of a 32-minute struggle they were shocked to discover they had reeled in an 11-foot great white shark.
Marcus Drymon, a Mississippi State University assistant extension professor who serves as a shark expert for the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resource, said the shark is believed to be the first great white ever caught from an Alabama beach.
Drymon said great white sharks are known to pass through Gulf of Mexico waters off the state's coast, but they rarely come close enough to land for beach-based anglers to encounter.
Wier and Kenney said the shark was released after the guides and their clients snapped some quick photos.