Fisherman reports encounter with 20-foot great white off Point Defiance [Tacoma Washington]

A retired aquarium worker and well-known Tacoma angler, Bob Salatino, encountered what he says was an 18- to 20-foot great white shark in Puget Sound off Tacoma's Point Defiance.

Salatino worked for 20 years at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. John Rupp, the aquatic animal curator there, described him as "a knowledgeable fisherman."

Salatino said Friday he encountered the shark while fishing alone for salmon Dec. 6. He was several hundred yards north of Point Defiance.

"The sun was shining, no wind, the water was clear. I was letting my gear out," he said.

Salatino fished with a wire "meat line," a flasher and a bait of herring. A flasher is a metal or plastic device attached to the line ahead of the bait to attract salmon.

"I was standing up in my boat to see how the herring was working behind the flasher," he said. "The flasher was skipping along the top of the water. I went to let it down, and the shark grabbed it."

Salatino had attached a 5-pound lead weight to the line, to take the bait to deep water.

"That 5 pounds of lead just stopped dead," he said. "When he grabbed it, the line went slack. I started cranking in, and my pole bent right around."

Then the shark "just came charging right out of the water," about 25 feet away, Salatino said. "It had the flasher in its mouth, and was throwing its head back and forth. His teeth were like a foot in front of his jaws."

The shark rolled completely over, Salatino said, and the flasher snapped out of its mouth.

"It had a lot of tension, and came flying straight at me," he said, "coming like a bullet. I ducked, and it went clear on the other side of the boat."

The shark splashed around a bit on the surface, dived, and came back to the surface two more times.

"He was looking me square in the eye," Salatino said. "His eyeball was rolled way back."

The shark was 2 to 4 feet longer than his 16-foot boat, the angler said. It was gray on top, its belly was white, and it had "a huge stomach."

Tawnya Patrick, manager of the marine biology program at the University of Washington, said she had not heard of any other encounters with great whites in Puget Sound but that such a thing "is possible." Great whites inhabit the ocean from California to Vancouver Island, she said.

Rupp, the aquatic animal curator, said an encounter such as Salatino described was "improbable but not impossible.

"I suspect that great white sharks do make occasional sorties into Puget Sound," he said. "It would not be a normal occurrence, but it's certainly within the realm of possibility."

Great white sharks patrol offshore on the Washington coast "pretty much all the time," Rupp said. There are no recorded landings or encounters in Puget Sound.

"It would be pure speculation," Rupp said. "You can go all the way from food drive to just curiosity."

The only potential witnesses were several yards away in another boat. "Two guys should have witnessed it, but they had their heads down," Salatino said.

The great white shark, also called the white shark, white death and man-eater, occurs worldwide in temperate seas. It feeds on fish, gulls, seals and sea lions.

The International Game Fish Association says the great white probably is the most dangerous shark, considering its size, strength and inclination to attack. It has attacked small boats, sometimes sinking them, the association says, and has been known to take a "larger" boat by the propeller and shake it.

An angler fishing off southern Australia in 1959 captured a great white shark that weighed 2,664 pounds.

Jaws II

Woman #1.....Gilda Radner
Land Shark.....Chevy Chase
Matt Hooper.....John Belushi
Sheriff.....Dan Aykroyd
Woman #2.....Laraine Newman
Woman #3.....Jane Curtin
Woman #4.....Candice Bergen
Jehovah's Witness.....Garrett Morris

[ Music: "Jaws Theme" ]

[ open on interior, apartment ]

[ doorbell sounds ]

Woman #1: [ moves to chain-locked door ] Who is it?

Land Shark: [ muffled voice ] Mrs. Ramilarghh??

Woman #1: Who is it?

Land Shark: [ muffled voice ] Plumber..

Woman #1: Plumber? I didn't ask for a plumber. Who is it?

Land Shark: [ muffled voice ] Telegram.

Woman #1: Oh. Telegram. Just a moment.

[ unlocks door, and opens it. The head of the shark appears, grabbing her arm and pulling her into the hallway as she screams. ]

[ SUPER: "Jaws II" ]

[ dissolve to Sheriff's Office, Sheriff and Matt Hooper looking over a three-foot long metal tub covered with a white cloth ]

Matt Hooper: [ looks under cloth and winces ] Oh, my God!

Sheriff: What was it?

Matt Hooper: Land shark. The cleverest species of them all.

[ dissolve to Woman #2 in her apartment ]

[ Music: "Jaws Theme ]

[ a knock at the door ]

Woman #2: [ appoaches the door ] Yes?

Land Shark: [ muffled voice ] Mrs. Arlsbergerhh??

Woman #2: Who?

Land Shark: [ muffled voice ] Mrs. Johnannesburrrr??

Woman #2: Who is it?

Land Shark: [ muffled voice ] Flowers.

Woman #2: Flowers? From whom?

Land Shark: [ muffled voice ] Plumber, ma'am..

Woman #2: I don't need a plumber. You're that clever shark, aren't you?

Land Shark: [ muffled voice ] Candygram.

Woman #2: Candygram, my foot! Get out of here before I call the proper authorities. You're the shark, and you know it.

Land Shark: [ muffled voice ] I'm only a dolphin, ma'am..

Woman #2: A dolphin? Well.. okay..

[ she opens the door, as the shark pulls her screaming into the hallway ]

[ dissolve to Sheriff's Office, Matt Hooper lifts up cloth napkin covering plate, then winces and looks away ]

Sheriff: What is it? Matt Hooper: Egg salad again. [ removes sandwich from under napkin, and takes a bite ]

[ dissolve to Woman #3 in her apartment, Woman #2 putting on make-up to go out ]

[ door buzzes ]

Woman #3: Who is it?

Land Shark: [ muffled voice ] Land Shark.

Woman #3: [ laughing ] Oh, Walter!

[ she opens door laughing, but is attacked and dragged into the hall by the Land Shark ]

[ dissolve to Sheriff's Office, Sheriff on phone looking horrified into another rtub covered with cloth ]

Sheriff: [ on phone ] Hello, Walter. I have some good news, and I have some bad news. First, the good news. There's a party tonight at my house. Now, the bad news: you'll be coming stag. Goodbye, Walter..

[ dissolve to Woman #4 in apartment, listening to the radio ]

Radio: ...considered the cleverest of all sharks. Unlike the great white, which tends to inhabit the waters of harbors and recreational beach areas, the Land Shark may strike at any place, any time. It is capable of disguising its voice, and generally preys on young, single women. Experts at the University of Miami's Oceanographic Institute suggest that the best way to scare off the shark in the event of an attack is to hit or punch the predator in the Nose. Now for the weather..

Woman #4: [ turns off radio, as the doorbell rings ] Who is it?

Muffled Voice: Sorry to disturb you, ma'am. I'm from the Jehovah's Witnesses, and thought you might be interested in a copy of our journal, "The Watchtower".

Woman #4: [ grabs a mallet and inches towards the door ] Why, I'd be very interested..

Muffled Voice: Would you mind opening the door, ma'am?

Woman #4: Certainly.

[ she unlocks the door a crack, and reaches out with the mallet to strike the Land Shark's head. Instead of the shark, a Jehovah's Witness stumbles into the apartment and drops onto the floor in front of her. ]

[ SUPER: "The End?" ]

[ fade ]

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