Extremely rare shark reeled in off Florida, video shows. See what makes it a ‘unicorn’
An angler fishing off southwest Florida reeled in a bizarre sea creature later identified as a piebald lemon shark.
Piebald is a genetic mutation that results in spotting and/or color blotches.
Photos shared on Instagram show the shark was white with black highlights down its back and along the fins.
It was caught from a dock on Captiva Island and measured just over 7 feet, according to the HuntingforJaws Instagram account. The angler was identified as Jack Appleton by Outdoor Life, which reports the catch happened the weekend of June 1-2.
“Incredibly rare lemon shark with a genetic condition known as piebaldism,” Appleton wrote on Instagram. “Accidentally came across this beauty while fishing for some (bull sharks). She had been tagged recently, so I took down her tag number and recorded measurements to send into NOAA.”
The shark did not take kindly to being caught and was recorded whipping around in an attempt to bite the angler. It came close.
Still, Appleton called it “God’s artwork” and admitted to being taken off guard when he “saw white surface from the depths.”
“You spend enough time with bait in the water something cool is bound to happen,” he posted. “There’s a lot of crazy creatures in the ocean. I’m grateful I got to see this one.”
In an odd coincidence, it is believed the shark was caught off Captiva Island earlier this year by anglers with Coast to Coast Fishing, the company wrote in a Facebook post.
News of the shark has rattled anglers across the country, with “world record fisherman” Rob Chapman telling his 134,000 Instagram follows it is a “crazy unicorn fish.”
“This (piebald or leucistic) shark is officially 1 in 100 million, but the story gets crazier,” he wrote in a June 2 Instagram post.
“This lemon shark was caught and released. Again and again and again and again over several years.”
The shark was released by Appleton and “she swam away strong back into the blue,” HuntingforJaws reported.
Captiva Island is about a 165-mile drive south from Tampa.
This story was originally published June 5, 2024 at 7:21 AM with the headline "Extremely rare shark reeled in off Florida, video shows. See what makes it a ‘unicorn’."