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Nothing says "Australia" like reeling in a 6.5-foot-long bull shark in front of a view of the Sydney Opera House.
Australian shark angler, Jordan, was fishing in the Sydney Harbour on Thursday when he landed the shark, having used a whole frozen mullet as bait, which he took out into the middle of the harbor with his kayak. After only 15 minutes, the shark bit.
It took 10 minutes of fighting before Jordan was able to pull the shark out of the water, with the help of his friend, fisherman Sarkis Hagopian.
"I decided to check out and try fishing in the Sydney Harbour because I saw a lot of people catch some decent sharks, so thought I'd give it a go," Jordan told local media. "I've never fished in the harbor or caught a shark there until now."
Footage of Jordan's exploits, shared to Hagopian's TikTok page, @sarks_total_fishing, has been viewed more than 25,000 times. In the video, Jordan can be seen reeling in the enormous shark, in front of a crowd of curious tourists.
Hagopian told Newsweek that Sydney Harbour is full of different types of shark.
Bull sharks are the third-most dangerous species of shark, with only the tiger shark and the great white responsible for more unprovoked attacks, as reported by the Florida Museum's Shark Attack File.
"[Bull sharks] are known to be an aggressive species and caution should always be taken around them," shark biologist and conservation lead at the Australian Marine Conservation Society, Leonardo Guida, Ph.D., previously told Newsweek.
Although shark bites are rare, it is important to be wary of these apex predators. In February, a 16-year-old girl was mauled to death by a bull shark in the Swan River near Perth in Western Australia.
At the end of the video, Hagopian and Jordan can be seen removing the hook from the shark's mouth and releasing it back into the water.
"We respect the sport a lot and only catch and release as much as possible," Hagopian said. "Most people in that scenario would cut the line with the hook still in the shark's mouth. But with a bit of teamwork we managed to release it freely."
Jordan said that, once it was freed, the shark "swam off strong."
The video has drawn dozens of comments on TikTok.
"Beautiful shark my bro, mad spot to get a shark too," said one user.
"Bare foot, sporting a mullet and in front of the opera house, can you get any more Aussie," said another.
About the writer
Pandora Dewan is a Senior Science Reporter at Newsweek based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on science, health ... Read more