02-20-2008, 09:45 PM
Back in 1979 or 80, while in the Navy, I was aboard a S. Carolina class guided missile cruiser. We were at anchor in the med fishing for red snapper (or whatever else we could catch). The ship’s captain was sitting on the deck in Bermuda shorts and a cowboy hat. One of the guys caught a big mako shark, maybe 6 – 7 feet long. The shark wasn’t concerned about being caught and was swimming nonchalantly around the bow with the sailor chasing trying to keep his line from breaking. The captain yelled, ”Away the security alert team!” and three marines in helmets and M-16’s come running on deck.. The marines probably thought we were going to war. The captain yells, “Kill that f***ing shark” and the marines blast the heck out of it with M-16s. They lowered a big metal barrel down on a rope and managed to drag the fish onboard. Somewhere I have a picture of the proud fisherman with one hand on a pole and the other on the shark, bleeding from about a hundred holes.
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