Fishermen off coast of Florida spot mako shark doing flips through the air

When Taylor Danowski and five friends set out on a fishing trip near the coast of St. Petersburg, Florida, they were expecting to see some grouper or some amberjack. They were not expecting to stumble upon a mako shark doing backflips through the air.

“It’s really rare to see a mako around here and in that shallow of water,” Danowski, 21, told CBS News. “You usually see makos out in deep water like the Atlantic. It’s rare to see one in the Gulf, especially only seven miles out!”

But see one they did. The friends even managed to keep it on the line for about half an hour Monday as they filmed its aeronautic stunts.

“We threw it half an amberjack with a hook in it, and it ate it immediately,” said Danowski. “Fought it for about 30 minutes.”

Danowski has lived in Florida his whole life, so he immediately recognized what a special sight this was.

“I’ve seen makos do that on YouTube and the Discovery Channel,” he said. “But it was insane to see such a big shark doing backflips right by the boat!”

The shark was so big that the men initially thought it was a juvenile great white. It was only once they saw it jump that they realized their mistake.

“Makos are typically known to jump when they’re hooked,” Danowski told CBS News, showing off his fisherman’s knowledge of sharks.

Still, though, nothing could have prepared the young friends for seeing a mako get all that hang time in person. Thankfully for the rest of us, their camera was rolling. And now, it’s as if Shark Week came early.