Willy Dean is a local waterman who hauls in bait fish for crabmen out of Scotland, MD. On August 20, he got the surprise of his life when he found two bull sharks in his pound net. Dean brought the sharks (one dead) to Buzz's Marina in Ridge, MD, and called the local DNR office.
Dean's stationary net is a mere 200 yards from a public swimming area at Point Lookout State Park. Although the second shark was alive, he brought it in because he didn't like having it that close to children swimming. "If we hadn't taken them and someone got injured or mauled, we would have felt very, very guilty."
The sharks weighed in between 200 and 250 pounds. Although we've all heard about sharks being in the Chesapeake, it's rare that they're ever spotted. "I've been around here a long, long time, and I've never seen them," said Buzz's Marina owner Mike Henderson. Dean echoed the statement. "You hear about it, but now we're actually finding them."
Photos by Christy Henderson of Buzz's Marina.
