COCOA BEACH, Fla — Jamie Glasner was on a charter fishing expedition with his company Fin and Fly when a swarm of sandbar sharks stole a catch of red snapper from one of his customers.
In the viral video Glasner took near Cocoa Beach, Florida, a shark is seen coming out of the water and eating a customer's fish after he reeled it in. Then a swarm of sharks are seen fighting over it and thrashing around in the water, even mistaking the motor as a fish and biting it.
"You don't see a giant feeding frenzy near the surface every day," he said.
In the 20 years he's been chartering, Glasner said he's never seen sharks fight for a fish that close up. Sharks usually prey on their fish deeper below the boat, which is why sometimes they reel in half-eaten fish, he said.
The steel motor is not broken, but Glasner said there are teeth marks on it.
In another video he took, a shark refused to let go of a blue fish that was on a rope attached to the boat.
"That's gonna wear him out," Glasner said laughing in the video.
The shark ultimately did not let go of the rope and just cut through it with its teeth.
"It was just crazy to see that," he said. "I'm glad I had the camera rolling."
Sandbar sharks can be up to eight feet in length and weigh up to 100 and 200 pounds. They are a protected species and are heavily populated in coastal waters, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Shark activity is at its peak in Florida waters in the spring and summer, according to the Fish and Wildlife Commission.
Additionally, the state led the world in the number of shark bites in 2023 with Brevard County having the second-highest number of shark bites.