Not long ago, people didn’t know there were great white sharks off the coast of South Carolina. Now, thanks to the obsessive pursuit of them by Outcast Sport Fishing Charter Captain Chip Michalove, everyone knows they’re out there, and in numbers during the winter months.
Michalove seems to have figured it out, and he’s not sharing his secrets for fear of hurting the species he spent more than a decade trying to pattern. The captain has caught nearly 30 of these apex predators over the last three years. His most recent catch has made national news after a post about him catching a 16-foot-long, 3,000-pound white shark went viral from his Facebook page.
Journalist Mandy Matney wrote in Hilton Head Island’s Island Packet about Michalove’s giant fish. She reported that with a two-man skeleton crew, Michalove had to radio to another fishing boat for backup to bring the giant fish boatside where it could be tagged and released.
Michalove tags great whites for the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy in Chatham, Massachusetts, according to the Island Packet report. They are working to study the movements of the sharks in the Atlantic, and through technique Michalove does everything he can to put minimal stress on the animals.