Giant fish emerges from depths to swallow shark that fishing crew thought they had caught

Goliath grouper thought to weigh 35 stone takes fishermen's catch in a single gulp

Fishermen in Florida were left dumbfounded as a shark they were reeling in was swallowed by a 35-stone grouper, feet from their boat.

The group witnessed the rare spectacle of a goliath grouper pouncing during an angling trip off the coast of Everglades City in the Gulf of Mexico.

Jimmy Wheeler, the owner of Everglades Fishing Company, which organised the outing, captured the incredible moment the creature rose from the depths and ingested the shark.

Footage filmed by the tour guide around 20 miles offshore sees the group reeling in a three-foot reef shark that has been snared on one of their lines.

Seconds later, the huge grouper surges to the surface and swallows the shark whole a matter of inches from the edge of the boat.

“Look at how big this fish is,” one of the passengers can be heard to exclaim, before another adds: “Holy s***”.

The rod is seen almost doubled over itself as one of the fishermen attempts to fight against the gigantic fish.

Mr Wheeler, an Everglades City native with extensive experience of fishing in the waters, said the group had wrestled against the fish until it had given up the shark.

“[The grouper] spit it out five to 10 minutes after holding it. They look for any kind of easy food source, so if they think they can swallow a big fish they’ll eat it,” he told Newsweek.

“Seeing other people get excited makes me more excited.”

Goliath groupers are known for their extremely large size and can grow up to 2.5m (8.2ft) in length and weigh up to 57 stone.

They were highly sought after by fishermen for their meat until a hunting ban was placed on the species due to a rapid decline of the population.

The US has listed the fish as a protected species since 1990. In Florida, they must be returned to the ocean immediately if caught on a fishing line.