Shark tagger offers blunt response to catch of giant marlin

Grander Watch on Saturday shared an image of a giant black marlin jumping behind a boat off Cooktown, Australia. The Facebook description boasted that the marlin, which was released, weighed an estimated 950 pounds.

Apparently, Keith Poe, a prominent California-based shark tagger, was not impressed.

Beneath the marlin post, Poe shared an image showing a massive great white shark alongside his boat and commented, simply: “5,000 pounds.”

Poe told FTW Outdoors that he caught and tagged the shark years ago off Mexico’s Guadalupe Island.

Poe now tags white sharks and mako sharks for the Marine Conservation Science Institute, run by Michael Domeier.

Keith Poe poses with catch of an estimated 5,000-pound white shark.

As for the catch of a 950-pound black marlin, it’s impressive. The catch of any marlin weighing close to or more than 1,000 pounds (a.k.a. grander) is considered rare.

The all-tackle world record for black marlin stands at 1,560 pounds. The record, set off Cabo Blanco, Peru, has stood since 1953.

–Top image courtesy of Grander Watch