iStockphoto / Nautilus Creative
A 2,800-pound great white shark named ‘LeeBeth’ was caught and tagged by Captain Chip Michalove while fishing off Hilton Head Island earlier this week.
Capt. Chip is a legend in the Hilton Head area when it comes to shark fishing. Each year he catches some of the biggest tiger sharks and great white sharks to inhabit those waters, and this 2,800-pounder named LeeBeth is an absolute unit.
Captain Chip was fishing with Pastor Ed Young, EJ Young, and Dave Clark on Monday when the 2,800-pound white shark took their bait. He says they battled the massive shark to the side of the boat where they saw LeeBeth was covered in scars from battles with other creatures in the past.
They tagged the shark with a psat tag, a satellite tag with a camera, that will detach in 8 months. In the meantime, it is pinging the Sharktivity App with location data and other data as LeeBeth migrates.
Releasing A 2,800-Pound Great White Shark
Clearly, everyone was tuckered out from the battle. Capt. Chip was exhausted from captaining a crew reeling in a 2,800-pound great white shark. LeeBeth was tuckered out and wanted a nap. Luckily for her, unlike when releasing a grander blue marlin that’s gassed, there really aren’t any predators that will take down LeeBeth in the area, at least not this time of year (aka, orcas).
Big Great White “LeeBeth”, just before we started the satellite tagging.
She’s pinging well on the Sharktivity app, she swam southwest and is currently a few miles off of St Simons, GA. today. pic.twitter.com/1IbG7VNvmV— Chip Michalove (@ChipHHI) December 14, 2023
Of course, the shark was released. There was never any question about that. Great White Sharks are a prohibited species meaning anglers/fishermen cannot keep them and the sharks must be immediately released after capture. In this instance, they were permitted to be able to attach the satellite tag for research to learn more about this vulnerable shark population.
Location pings from LeeBeth’s SPOT tag can be seen on the Sharktivity app already. This 14ft female is on the move as Fall turns to Winter and most of these massive white sharks head South instead of staying in the frigid Northern Atlantic.
It won’t be long before these great white sharks are swimming off Mar-a-Lago again as they head toward Florida…