An albino all white shark was caught close to the Isle of Wight in Britain. A man named Jason Gillespie went deep-sea fishing with friends and snared the shark that was three feet long. The fish was leucistic that made it lose all the pigment from the skin.
50-year-old Gillespie from Waterlooville would have quickly released the tope shark if it was some other kind. But he decided to reel the unusual catch on board to take a few pictures. He finally let the shark go back to the water once done.
Fishing expert for 30 years caught Albino All White Shark
While reporting, the man said that he was fishing for the past 30 years but never saw a catch like this one. He also said that the fish had a condition where all its pigments die from skin color. The man also said that the fish is similar to other albinos that have red eyes. He expressed his luck of getting a catch and called it once in a lifetime opportunity.
After his pictures went viral on Facebook, he said no one said they had caught the same kind of shark before. One person from Wales commented that he had caught one of these fishes years back, but it was smaller in size, around 6lb only.
The fishing expert said that these fishes tend to struggle to survive after they lose their pigment. These don’t have the same camouflage and cannot hunt as they could before. Moreover, predators pick many of them.
Topes are protected species, so even if he found these before, he would unhook them and set them free. He only picked up this one to see it closely and take photos, which surprisingly went viral. Jason said that he released the fish in a minute so that it could survive.
Tope sharks feed on many small fishes, cephalopods, and crustaceans. They can swim for long distances and are common in the UK. These fishes can swim from Britain to the Canary Islands and further.
