Two Milford fishermen made quite a big weekend catch while fishing on Long Island Sound when they reeled in a 4-foot sand tiger shark instead of striped bass.
Steve Thomas said he has fished in the Sound his whole life and he has only seen a sand tiger shark once before.
"We realized the girth on this and said this was no average shark," Thomas said.
Thomas and his friend, Nick Vicino, put the fish in a cooler and showed off their prize to people stopping by.
Tiger sand sharks aren’t uncommon to this area, Donald Harrington, a biologist from the Mystic Aquarium, said.
"These are not dangerous animals," he said, but the number of sand tiger sharks is dwindling and he recommends releasing the fish back into the wild when caught.
Thomas and Vicino said that, from now on, they will release sharks they capture, but for now they are celebrating their big catch.
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"I’ve always told people there are no sharks with teeth in here, but I guess I was proved wrong last night," Vicino said.
