Shark hunter recalls monster great white

Colin Ostle, a former fisheries officer, still vividly remembers the extraordinary encounter he had with a colossal great white shark off the coast of Albany in 1975. Over 40 years later, the memory of the massive 5-meter-long predator continues to amaze him.

During his tenure at the fisheries department in Albany from 1968 to 1975, Mr. Ostle found himself making headlines on April 25 when he successfully captured the enormous great white shark weighing nearly 1500kg.

The thrilling encounter began when Mr. Ostle spotted the shark the day before and decided to venture out for tuna fishing with a companion, keeping a watchful eye for the magnificent creature.

“It was late in the afternoon, and we were attracting bait fish when suddenly this enormous creature appeared under the boat while we were standing on the tuna racks,” he recounted.

Realizing that it was too late in the day to use conventional fishing gear, Mr. Ostle devised an alternative method involving a wire snare.

“Since the shark was swimming beneath the back of the boat, I seized the opportunity to lean over and place the snare over its head,” he explained.

“When the snare was around its head, the shark instinctively tried to break free by entangling itself in the wire. This particular shark, however, demonstrated sheer power, causing the boat to tilt at a 15-degree angle for approximately 12 minutes.”

Mr. Ostle had prepared the wire snare with a four-wheel-drive tire to absorb some of the force exerted by the shark.

He continued, “After about half an hour of an intense struggle, with the whaling station only 200 meters away from us, I finally managed to take a shot at the shark.”

During his seven-year tenure in Albany, Mr. Ostle estimated that he had caught around 60 great white sharks. His original motivation for hunting these creatures was to help the local seal population thrive.

“While working around Esperance and the nearby islands, I noticed a significant absence of seals and sea lions,” he recalled.

“After examining a couple of sharks and finding remains of seals inside them, I concluded that thinning out the shark population was necessary to allow the seals a chance to rebuild their numbers.”

Colin Ostle’s encounter with the colossal great white shark remains etched in his memory, a testament to the awe-inspiring power and majesty of these magnificent creatures

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