2023-06-19 19:20:28
A shark shattered a crew’s dream of winning a high-stakes fishing competition when the huge marlin it hauled in was disqualified by tournament officials for being mutilated.
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The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament in North Carolina has ended in controversy after the crew dubbed Sensation bragged about bringing home a massive 619-pound marlin on Saturday that would have allowed team members to win more $4.6 million in prize money, but was disqualified because he appeared to have been bitten by sharks.
“Sensation’s 619.4-pound blue marlin has been determined to be disqualified due to mutilation caused by a shark or other marine animal,” competition officials wrote in a statement on Sunday.
“The fish was deemed to have been mutilated before being landed or loaded and was therefore disqualified,” they added.
The decision was made after “thorough deliberations and discussions” with tournament officials and experts.
Sensation captain Greg McCoy told The Washington Post that his crew believed they had won after battling for hours to reel in the huge marlin.
“It’s the last hour, the last day, and we fought him for six hours,” Greg McCoy told the newspaper.
He said he was shocked when the mutilation rule was brought up.
A livestream of the event shows the crowd going wild as the crew proudly reveal their huge catch of the day.
But the atmosphere quickly died down.
“It looks like this fish was bitten by a shark,” the presenter said over a loudspeaker.
In its statement, the tournament said the decision to disqualify Sensation’s catch was consistent with previous decisions and the rules of the International Game Fish Association.
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