Venice, Los Angeles Angler Reels in a GPS Tracking Device
19 Apr 2016Venice, LA Angler Reels in a GPS Tracking Device
For Venice fisherman Stephen Babcock and Kyle Kritz, an ordinary day of fishing turned into something a bit more exciting when he hooked a scalloped hammerhead shark.
Hooking a hammerhead was exciting enough, especially since Babcock intended on reeling in a few tunas; however, the way he hooked the predator made his catch even more exciting.
Babcock and his fishing pals booked an offshore fishing trip with Voo Doo Fishing Charters and when the group set sail, the last thing they ever imagined was that a hammerhead would be hooked – and they certainly didn’t imagine it would be hooked by a GPS tracking device.
It’s not unusual for fishermen to catch something other than what they intended to, especially off the shores of Southern California, which are a hot spot for shark activity. However, what makes this catch unique is the fact that it included a GPS tracking device.
Babcock cast his baited line and the shark, which happened to be swimming past it, was hooked by the satellite tracking device it was tagged with.
According to Babcock, he and his buddies tried to fight off the fish for about 30 minutes and followed it for approximately a mile and a half from where it was caught. So much pressure was applied to the line that the device was torn off the fish and reeled up.
When the line was reeled in, the anglers were confused by what they found on the line. They thought it was a bunch of deformed algae, but when they saw a blinking red light blinking intermittently, they realized that they were looking at some type of technological device.
Babcock, a resident of Baton Rouge, took the tracking device home, so he could bring it Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. However, when he returned home, it was the weekend, so he would have to wait until Monday to contact the officials.
While he was waiting to get in touch with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, he posted a picture of his catch on a popular fishing forum – and it went viral. He was quickly contacted by every research group that tags sharks in the country.
“The next thing you know, I’m holding the hottest thing since sliced bread to every shark researcher in the world,” Babcock said. “As you might imagine, I’ve been in fairly regular contact with every shark-tagging researcher in the country.”
Eventually, it was determined that the device was attached to the dorsal fin of an 8-foot scalloped hammerhead shark by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries biologists in January, 2015.
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