A fisherman was dragged into the sea when a shark capsized his boat using pure brute strength.
Graham Smith was plunged into the water when his kayak overturned battling a porbeagle off the Irish coast.
He had been battling the aquatic predator for 20 minutes in the sea off north west Ireland before ending up in the sea.
The shark had pulled him out into choppy water during the angling battle, prompting Graham to call for help from friends on a nearby boat.
In dramatic footage of the confrontation the shark can be seen keenly pursuing the bait with its teeth bared.
Graham is pictured fighting for control of his fishing rod as the shark drags the line behind him and over his shoulder.
(Image: Credit: Pen News/Graham Smith)
When the angler starts to be towed towards shore, the shark drags the rod into the side of the boat, tilting the kayak past the point of no return.
“I go fishing for shark a couple of times a year off Donegal in Ireland,” the 43-year-old said.
“On that particular day, it was calm inside the headland but once you got outside it was rough.
“The porbeagle is a very clever shark. They’re notoriously difficult. About 15 to 20 minutes I’d been fighting him.”
(Image: Credit: Pen News/Graham Smith)
(Image: Credit: Pen News/Graham Smith)
He continued: “Towards the end of the fight, he took me out where it was very bad.
“Some lads that I know were there so I gave them a shout and said can you give me a quick tow out of this rough stuff – then I can get the shark up and let him go.
“But the shark caused a swell before we were ready and it just flipped the kayak.”
Graham’s kit box was flipped over casting its contents into the sea, losing him £430 worth of gear.
(Image: Credit: Pen News/Graham Smith)
Graham said a GoFish camera, a GoPro and his Huawei P30 mobile were among the items lost or destroyed.
“It’s only happened twice now in 13 or 14 years of kayak fishing,” he said.
“Another 15 minutes and I’d have had him up and let him go. It’s one of those things, unfortunately.
“I cut the line. I had to go home, I had to go to work.”
The Moville, County Donegal man was able to flip his boat back over with some help from the crew who were towing him.
The porbeagle shark grows to 2.5metres and is found primarily in the north Atlantic.
Fishing the breed in European Union waters since 2011 and the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists it as “critically endangered” in the east northern Atlantic.
