‘A true lifetime fish’: Cape Cod researcher, charter boat captain tag nearly 3,000-pound shark

HILTON HEAD, S.C. — A Cape Cod researcher and a charter fishing boat captain recently had the experience of a lifetime when they came face-to-face with a monstrous great white shark off South Carolina.

Captain Chip Michalove, of Outcast Sport Fishing, says he was out on the water with Atlantic White Shark Conservancy scientist Megan Winton on Friday when they encountered a 14-foot, nearly 3,000-pound female shark named LeeBeth off Hilton Head.

Winton equipped LeeBeth with a camera tag and satellite tracker, according to Michalove.

“Covered in scars from chewing on seals, she swam off with a satellite spot tag that you’ll be able to track on the Sharktivity app,” Michalove said in a Facebook post.

The tracker, which will ping LeeBeth’s movement, will detach on its own in about eight months, according to Michalove and Winton.

Michalove said the trip marked the first of the season and that it’s highly unusual to come across a shark of LeeBeth’s size so early on.

“It was my first trip of the season. To get a giant on the trip, it blew my mind!” Michalove told Boston 25 News. “It was wild!”

Michalove added that the experience was “one of the better days” of his life.

LeeBeth is named after Michalove’s friend’s daughter who passed away two years ago at the age of 34.

“She absolutely loved shark fishing and was definitely watching her dad, brother, and family friend catch and satellite tag a true lifetime fish,” Michalove added in the post.

Winton, who traveled down to South Carolina from the Cape, is known to occasionally accompany Michalove on trips.

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