Great white attacks fisherman's boat in Gulf

Fishermen who have seen a Panama City Beach man's recent video on Facebook might be thinking, "I'm going to need a bigger boat."

Capt. Scott Fitzgerald of Madfish Charters was fishing for amberjack on Monday morning about 8.5 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico when he felt a bump to his boat.

A great white shark was attacking the trolling motor on his 22-foot Sea Hunt.

"He knocked the boat two feet to the side, then grabbed the trolling motor and started shaking it in his mouth," Fitzgerald said. "That's when I ran up front and pulled it out of his mouth."

Fitzgerald let the boat drift for a while and captured several cellphone videos of the shark circling the boat.

"Every time I put (the motor) back into the water, he would go after it again," Fitzgerald said. "I've never seen anything like it."

When the shark attacked the motor a third time, Fitzgerald left the area.

According to Fitzgerald, a shark expert with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission confirmed the shark in the video is a great white. The agency has asked Fitzgerald to provide as much information about the shark encounter - time, coordinates, depth of water, etc. - so that they can work with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries division and investigate what might have caused the shark to attack the boat.