What began as a typical offshore fishing trip for a group of St. Petersburg boaters a few years back quickly turned into a once-in-a-lifetime encounter when a massive great white shark, estimated between 14 and 16 feet, began circling their vessel off the coast of Venice, Florida.
As FOX 13 Tampa Bay reported, the group was out with Captain Tyler Levesque about 65 miles offshore, fishing for snapper, when the shark appeared. The animal remained near the boat for two to three hours, frequently circling, surfacing, and even biting the outboard motor multiple times.
“He was not going to leave,” one of the men told FOX 13. “At one point, he came back to bite the motor, and our captain had to push him away because he was that close.”
The close-range behavior, which included the shark rolling onto its back “like it wanted a belly rub,” was caught on video and stunned the boaters. But perhaps most curious was the shark’s repeated interest in the boat’s engine — behavior that, while dramatic, turns out to be not entirely unusual.
This behavior has always intrigued me and coming across this archival story inspired me to dig a little deeper.
Why Would a Shark Bite a Boat Motor?
According to marine scientist Dr. Robert Hueter — quoted in FOX 13 Tampa Bay’s coverage of the encounter — the shark’s behavior may not have been aggressive, but rather a reaction to electrical impulses emitted by the boat’s electronics.
“A lot of times the electrical impulses come off the boat, and that confuses them,” Dr. Hueter explained. “So it’s not necessarily a sign of aggression or being hungry. But a lot of it’s the electrical impulses.” (Source: FOX 13 Tampa Bay)
His comments align with decades of research showing that great whites rely on electroreception or the ability to sense electric fields via specialized organs called ampullae of Lorenzini to locate prey.
Boat motors, depth finders, and other electronics emit electrical fields that may mimic the signals of distressed or hiding fish, leading the shark to investigate by bumping or biting.
Research by shark scientists such as Tricas & McCosker (1984) and others has shown that this behavior such as biting boats, motors, and even rudders is often investigative rather than predatory.
Changing Shark Behavior in the Gulf
This sighting also reflects a broader trend: the resurgence of great white sharks in the Gulf. Over the past decade, researchers and fishermen alike have reported increasing numbers of sightings, suggesting a gradual rebound in the population. These sharks are known to make seasonal migrations, and warmer winter waters off Florida’s Gulf Coast may be attracting them more frequently.
Notably, the shark seen in this encounter had no visible tags, highlighting how much remains unknown about the population moving through the region. For every tracked shark, there are likely many more traveling undetected.
Additionally, new reporting from Live Science suggests that some sharks in the Gulf may be beginning to associate boats with food, a behavior possibly linked to chumming, discarded catch, or repeated exposure to fishing vessels. This could help explain why this shark lingered near the boat for hours and displayed such persistent investigative behavior.
I must admit I’m jealous. I would love to have a great white hang around my boat for two hours, specially if I had a couple of GoPros to capture footage.
🎬 Dive Deeper: Watch the Documentary
For those fascinated by these apex predators and the changing dynamics in Gulf waters, the documentary Gulf Great White Sharks: Return of an Icon is an essential watch. The film explores the return of great whites to the Gulf, the efforts to track and study them, and what their presence means for the region’s marine ecosystems.
Chester Moore
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