LEWES, Del.- A video of a Lewes man grabbing a shark in the water at Cape Henlopen State Park has gone viral. Many people on social media are criticizing the man, saying what he did was illegal and wrong. But Dave Williamson tells WRDE he did everything by the book. "It's not a first for me by any means," he says. "I've been catching sharks on the beach for about five years now." His interaction drew quite a crowd, with tons of people taking pictures and videos. Williamson says there were park rangers who watched the entire catch and release, and he was not ticketed. "If you watch the video I did those things and I try to do it by the book every single time because there are so many eyeballs and camera lens on you at all times," Williamson said. DNREC said it watched the video and in a statement said, "While shore-based shark fishing is allowed in Delaware, harassment of wildlife is not. Prohibited shark species must be immediately released and anglers should minimize handling them to increase their chances of survival." Williamson said he did just that--releasing the shark as soon as possible. The woman whotook the viral video, Rachael Foster, says she is happy to have the memory.
"[It was a] once in a lifetime to see a shark that close to shore and that close to us." Others were also shocked to see a shark that big so close to the beach. But Aaron Carlisle, a professor in the school of Marine Science and Policy at the University of Delawar, says this was not out of the ordinary.
"They're there and they're pretty abundant and people catch them all of the time surf fishing," he tells WRDE. "that's one of the big things that people seem to like to do here when they're fishing off the beaches--catch sand tigers and sandbars."
Carlisle says based on the video, ultimately Williamson didn't do anything wrong. He says cutting the hook off and letting the shark go is way less stressful than over-handling the animal which could irritate it. Sand Tiger Sharks are a prohibited species in Delaware meaning they must be released as quickly and as safely as possible.
