Waukegan, IL | The capture of a huge 3,000-pound great white shark in Lake Michigan yesterday could explain the disappearance of missing people in the area in the last decade, has confirmed the U.S. Coast Guard this morning.
Canadian tourist, John O’Keef and his friend from Chicago, Allan Brooks captured the 3,000-pound beast while fishing for sturgeon in Michigan Lake.
“We reeled in the beast for a good 4-5 hours before my friend Allan finally shot it with a rifle and wounded it to the head” explains O’Keef.
“I’d heard of the Lake Michigan monster, but never did I expect to catch it myself,” claims the 63-year-old Canadian tourist.
The great white shark estimated at more than 1.2 tons is the biggest fish ever caught in the region, believe experts.
Professor of biology at the University of Illinois, Allan Jameson said: “This is not common to find such a beast so far inland. Either rising sea temperatures and depleted fish stocks possibly led the shark to adventure itself further into the Great Lakes region.” he admits, visibly puzzled. “It is also possible it traveled to the region through underwater tunnels that interconnect between the Great Lakes,” he told reporters.
According to authorities more than a hundred people reported missing in the area in the last decade may have fallen under the fangs of the gigantic beast, several local residents even suspecting its presence for a long time.
U.S. Coast Guards reassured local residents that the occurrence of such a predator in the region’s waters “is highly unlikely” as sharks are not well adapted to freshwater systems.
In 1916, a deadly shark attack near Presque Ile beach, in Lake Eerie, made national headlines, forcing local authorities to ban swimming in the region for over 14 years until the ban was lifted in 1930.
