Incredible footage shows a man catching one of the world’s rarest fish – which turned out to be the bloke's first ever catch.
Not a bad start, eh?
TikToker @shaaaarky, who regularly shares ‘catch & release shark fishing adventures’ on the platform, recently posted a video of the amazing find, revealing how he and his friends had caught a 13-14ft sawfish.
Advert
He wrote: “From zero to one of the rarest fish in the world in a single fishing trip.”
In the clip, the group could be seen in total shock after catching a sawfish – among the world’s rarest fish.
One man can be heard shouting: “What the... No! It’s a sawfish, there are like 500 of them left in the world!
“Oh my gosh, it’s got like baby fish on it!”
Advert
And it gets better, as it turned out the catch was actually one friend's first ever fish.
“That was my first ever fish, ever!” he tells the camera with a smile.
Sawfish are are large shark-like rays that have a toothed, saw-shaped rostrum, which can grow to around five feet long.
Advert
They are also known as a carpenter shark, and despite looking pretty fearsome they have rarely been known to attack humans, unless acting in self-defence.
Instead, the rostra contain sensory organs that can detect minute electrical signals from potential prey - which can then be either clubbed or pinned to the floor before being eaten.
A nice thought, isn't it?
The footage, which was also posted on Instagram, has received a great deal of interest from other keen fishing fans – many of whom were incredibly jealous that the sawfish had been one lad’s first ever catch.
Advert
One person commented: “He’ll be chasing that high the rest of his life.”
Someone else wrote: “Beginners’ luck is real.”
Another said: “Such an incredible animal. One of those things Id love to catch but also want nothing to do with.”
Advert
In 2015, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature estimated that one of the species - smalltooth sawfish - had a population of as few as 200, while, according to the Shark Trust, over the past century populations of all five species have 'drastically declined'.
All five are now listed as Endangered or Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
"Sawfish can easily become entangled in fishing gear leading to incidental capture," the website says.
"They’re often retained for their large fins and rostra, which are highly prized for medicinal and cultural purposes. Rostra are also sold as curios in the tourist trade."
Jess Hardiman