WATCH | The heart-stopping moment a shark snatches a fish right out of teen’s hand

07 February 2021 - 10:00
By kyle zeeman AND Kyle Zeeman
A teenager in New Zealand got the fright of his life when a shark snatched his catch. Stock photo.
Image: 123RF/sellphoto1 A teenager in New Zealand got the fright of his life when a shark snatched his catch. Stock photo.

Jahmon Wilson, 18, is lucky to be alive after a shark almost tore off his hand while snatching the fish he had caught.

According to 7 News Australia, Wilson was dragged 20m through the water during the encounter.

The teen was filming on his GoPro while out spearfishing in Nelson, New Zealand, a few weeks ago, and was pretty chuffed with himself when he managed to catch a large kingfish.

But it seems a nearby shark also had his eye on the fish and was not about to let his lunch disappear.

Cue chaos!

A video of the incident went viral, and was carried by Metro UK.

Wilson told the publication he felt a jolt and thought the kingfish may still have some life in it.

“Then I felt the force of the shark hit me and the kingfish ripped out of my hands, and at that point everything was just big white water. I was holding on to my spear gun which was attached to the spearfish — so it towed me through the water for about 20m before cutting through the line.”

He told Daily Mail that the type of shark involved, a bronze whaler, doesn't normally attack people unless there is food involved.

'They can get pretty close and they can steal your fish, but very, very, very rarely will they eat a fish out of your hand like that. That's a really ballsy, really confident shark.

“He just wanted a free, easy feed and if that meant stealing the kingfish out of my hand then that was it for him.”