The crew’s dream of winning a high-stakes fishing contest is shattered by a shark when the giant marlin it captured is disqualified for being mutilated by tournament officials.
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The Big Rock Blue Marlin tournament in North Carolina ended in controversy after the crew dubbed Sensation boasted of bringing home a whopping 619-pound marlin on Saturday that would have allowed team members to win more than $4.6 million in prize money, but was disqualified because it looked He was bitten by sharks.
“It was decided that the 619.4-pound blue marlin should be disqualified due to mutilation caused by a shark or other marine animal,” competition officials wrote in a statement on Sunday.
They added, “The fish were deemed to have been mutilated before they could be lowered or loaded, and were therefore excluded.”
The decision was made after “extensive deliberation and discussion” with tournament officials and experts.
Thrill captain Greg McCoy told The Washington Post that his crew thought they had won after battling for hours to catch a giant marlin.
“It’s the last hour, the last day, and we’ve fought him for six hours,” Greg McCoy told the newspaper.
He said he was shocked when the defamation law was introduced.
A live stream of the event shows the crowd going wild as the crew proudly reveals their huge catch of the day.
But the atmosphere soon cleared.
“Looks like this fish was bitten by a shark,” the presenter said over the loudspeaker.
The tournament said in its statement that the decision to exclude Sensation fishing is in line with previous decisions and the rules of the International Fishing Association.
