Teens Catch And Release 2 Sharks Near Ocean City Beach

OCEAN CITY, Md. (WJZ) -- A "reel" big surprise for some young fishermen from Calvert County. The teens were in Ocean City when they hooked, not one, but two giant sharks!

Three friends -- Chris Floria, Levi Brickner and Shamar Gray -- caught two sand tiger sharks near the 72nd Street beach.

"It's not that unusual for those sharks to be there. In fact, they live in very shallow waters," said Alan Henningsen, a shark expert at the National Aquarium.

"If you are lucky enough to see a shark, first of all, the chances of anything bad happening are very, very slim," he said. "A lot of people get scared irrationally, but usually nothing happens."

The teens say after a long fight, they reeled in the first shark, which was about eight-feet long. The next one -- a six-foot long shark -- took more than two hours to reel in!

Their time couldn't have been better -- it's "Shark Week" at the National Aquarium!

"You don't really get too many sharks where we are in Scotland, so it's really neat to see them over here," said visitor Nigel McClain.

As for the trio in Ocean City -- they took a few photos and returned the sharks to the ocean. It's a catch they will never forget!

The sand tiger shark is on the endangered species list, so it's good the teens released the sharks back into the water.

There are more than 500 different species of shark.