A Florida Keys charter fishing company this week posted an image showing what was left of a large dolphinfish, or mahi-mahi, after it had been reeled aboard the boat.
"Big Bull Dolphin caught aboard the Spartan!" Bud N’ Mary’s Marina boasted via Instagram. "Unfortunately Sharks wanted a bite too."
The image was reminiscent of a more vivid image showing what occurs when a massive shark chases down a hooked game fish to collect a "tax."
ALSO: Rare wahoo catch off San Diego a sign that 'El Niño has struck'
The image, posted below, shows a fisherman posing with what's left of the giant yellowfin tuna he had hooked at Mexico’s Guadalupe Island.
This occurred years ago, before the Guadalupe Island Biosphere Reserve was ordered closed to sportfishing and commercial
shark diving.
The image was resurrected in 2024 by BD Outdoors, and subsequently by FTW Outdoors.
The "taxman" at Guadalupe was likely a great white shark, since the remote island west of Ensenada is frequented by white sharks and they were notorious for wreaking havoc at the fishing grounds during tuna bites.
(I recall a San Diego-based captain telling me that dropping anchor at Guadalupe was tantamount to "ringing the dinner bell” for great white sharks.)
In the case of the bull dolphinfish taxed this week off Florida (pictured above), the type of shark was not specified.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: As fisherman battles giant tuna, 'taxman' comes calling
