* 4.3m great white caught off South Africa
* Scientists say it was not fully grown
* Was already 700kg when caught in nets

FISHERMEN are asking if this is the massive great white shark that has been stealing their catch, breaching repeatedly within metres of one terrified man’s surf ski.

These photographs of the 4.3m monster have been circulating on the internet, but reports from the South African fishing town of Mossel Bay confirm they are no hoax.

Frighteningly, scientists who dissected the female shark say it was adolescent and not yet fully grown, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Still, it had already grown to a weight of around 700kg when it was caught in shark nets off a popular swimming beach on August 31.

Conservation authorities tried to save the disoriented creature by towing it out to sea but it swam back, became entangled again and died.
South African newspaper The Witness quotes a local fisherman who believed it may have been the same shark that breached near his surf ski and stole a barracuda he had been reeling in.

However, scientists said that was unlikely as sharks seldom stay in the same area for long.

They also said it was not the biggest shark ever caught in the area.

A 4.7m great white weighing 1.1 tonnes was caught off nearby Richards Bay in 2002.

On the evening of June 25th, 2009, the Ecuadorian Environmental Police, acting on information provided by Sea Shepherd Galapagos, raided a fisherman’s house on Santa Cruz Island. The Environmental Police were supported by the Galapagos National Park Service and the K9 Police Unit.

Thanks to the excellent work of the dogs and their guides, the police quickly found 52 large shark fins inside the house. The dried and fresh fins weighed about 30 pounds. They were cut from Black Tip sharks and Galapagos sharks. Additionally, the police confiscated a substantial amount of illegal fishing gear (hooks, nets, and long lines) used in the illegal shark fishing industry.

Although Ecuadorian law permits sharks to be caught as by-catch near the Ecuadorian mainland, fishing for sharks is absolutely prohibited inside the Galapagos Marine Reserve.

The shark fins have an estimated street value of $10,000.

The suspect is under detention. Sea Shepherd will continue to assist in the case to secure a conviction and proper sentence.