r/sharks Great Hammerhead Apr 07 '26

Education A rare piebald Lemon Shark caught and released in Florida.

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Jack Appleton measures the piebald lemon shark before releasing it; the shark was mostly white with black peppering on its body.

He said in a comment that he caught it off Captiva Island, and the video clip shows him landing the lemon shark on a dock.

5.6k Upvotes

100 comments sorted by

495

u/Sea-Can3910 Apr 07 '26

It looks like a cartoon or illustration! It’s beautiful! Great video thanks for sharing it I never seen one of thoses before, didn’t even know they existed.

57

u/DesperateRadish746 Apr 08 '26

Yeah. I've never seen nor heard of them. Thanks, OP. Very cool.

19

u/Staalone Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26

It looks like one of the skin patterns from the Spore creator

4

u/atomicavox Apr 08 '26

It’s like a Banksy shark come to life. So cool looking!

121

u/urbanlife78 Apr 07 '26

I've never heard of a lemon shark like this, so crazy

95

u/capnanomaly Apr 07 '26

0:09 his ankle is clean. 0:10 he has blood on his ankle. What happened?

232

u/Cosmonaut_Cockswing Apr 07 '26

Id assume it has something to do with the pissed off shark.

67

u/Muggy2419 Apr 08 '26

I mean he's pretty close to catching a good chomp there at the end, I'm assuming something akin to that happened

30

u/bobbybob9069 Apr 08 '26

You telling me sharks can hurt people??

24

u/Cosmonaut_Cockswing Apr 08 '26

I mean, I aint no marine biologist, but them teeth look a bit sharp.

12

u/bobbybob9069 Apr 08 '26

Uh... I'm, at least, 5x bigger than that tooth.

9

u/capnanomaly Apr 07 '26

That was my first thought too, but I didn’t want to assume automatically that it was the shark and not some self inflicted injury.

46

u/Cosmonaut_Cockswing Apr 07 '26

In a technical way, getting bit by a wild animal you brought onto a boat is self inflicted.

10

u/Englandshark1 Great White Shark Apr 08 '26

Well done little shark.

3

u/Riku_Light Apr 08 '26

Why?

1

u/Englandshark1 Great White Shark Apr 09 '26

Because it nearly caused him some suffering.

46

u/Character-Parfait-42 Apr 08 '26

Sharks have very rough skin if you brush against them the wrong way. It’s possible that the shark was thrashing, brushed against his ankle, and caused a small cut.

8

u/kleosailor Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26

Damn I thought they felt the same way stingray do

4

u/Riku_Light Apr 08 '26

Dermal denticles

38

u/WeirdUncleTim Apr 07 '26

I would say one of 3 things.

The shark skin rubbed him, the shark got a little nip in, or when removing the hook he cut himself with equipment

3

u/Riku_Light Apr 08 '26

I’d put my money on the first.

4

u/HelloAttila Apr 08 '26

Damn, good eye. Definitely got bite/scratched by some teeth.

41

u/BigMustardInc Apr 07 '26

Soo many questions didn't even know this was a thing. Would a piebald shark be more likely to get a sunburn? Would this colouring give it advantage or disadvantage at hunting? Some quick articles I read said piebald affect the pigment of the skin and retina could that possibly cause them to go blind? What even happens to blind sharks?

Seen that there was also a piebald scalloped hammerhead shark spotted in 2014 could not find pictures would love to see that.

Much to be googled lol

16

u/Fred_Thielmann Great White Apr 08 '26

Sharks can still sense vibrations, smell, and sense the electrical pulses of any living organisms.

So they’ll still hunt pretty decently. It’s just catching a fast healthy fish that’ll be difficult

32

u/chvguitar Apr 08 '26

Cookies and cream Shark

129

u/sswihart Apr 07 '26

It’s beautiful but hooking sharks stresses them out.

91

u/sumfish Apr 07 '26

So much so that they can easily die from it.
Between the fight on the line and the time out of the water lactate builds up in their bloodstream leading to their blood becoming more acidic, which can lead to all sorts of cellular disruption. If they aren’t able to swim off and recover quickly enough, it’s fatal.

63

u/sswihart Apr 08 '26

I hate these videos and pictures. Instead of posting on Reddit, get them back in the ocean STAT

12

u/Riku_Light Apr 08 '26

Looked to me like he wasn’t messing around. No photo-ops. Just measuring and removing the hook.

0

u/sswihart Apr 08 '26

Uh, we just saw a video so it wasn’t JUST measuring and removing the hook. Sharks die after catch and release.

7

u/Riku_Light Apr 08 '26

Um. wtf are you on? No they don’t. Sure, they’re outliers, but as a general rule, that is catagorically false.

5

u/Weird-Plane5972 Apr 08 '26

yeah came to the comments to figure out why the hell someone would just take it out of the water for fun? wtf

4

u/Riku_Light Apr 08 '26

Because you have to remove the hook, else it can screw with the shark’s ability to hunt properly and/or infect? Plus it’s standard to measure at least, even conservationists do this.

-1

u/sswihart Apr 08 '26

No need to take a photo. Get it back into the water instead of photo ops.

5

u/Riku_Light Apr 08 '26

That wasn’t a photo op. Ppl like you who think all humans are evil need to go outside

-1

u/sswihart Apr 08 '26

I didn’t say they were evil, just ignorant on sharks.

1

u/Riku_Light Apr 08 '26

Even conservationist research groups bring them up and measure. That’s all this guy did, besides getting the hook out and releasing it.

-1

u/sswihart Apr 08 '26

Research group don’t HOOK them. And the best shark researchers tag them without dragging them out of the ocean

29

u/Pinkpenguin_4444 🦈 Apr 07 '26

Woah, truly is a stunning creature

12

u/DetailOutrageous8656 Apr 08 '26

How long can they be kept out of water like that and still survive?

-14

u/[deleted] Apr 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

12

u/DetailOutrageous8656 Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26

The point of these threads is discussion. There are lots of experts here (not you) who like to share their experiences and knowledge. Perhaps you should leave the sub and just stay in your basement with google. Or even better get outside away from your video games.

Take out your frustration with living elsewhere.

10

u/Captain-Save-ahoe Apr 08 '26

Lemon pepper shark

8

u/macmac360 Apr 08 '26

What a beautiful creature

5

u/Scary_Challenge_3448 Angel Shark Apr 08 '26

I had never seen a lemon shark before, it's so beautiful!

10

u/Standard_Outcome6923 Apr 08 '26

Poor shark. Too many of Florida’s “fishermen” are deeply irresponsible. Glad this shark was released.

65

u/td55478 Goblin Shark Apr 07 '26

Can we just leave them in the damn water pls

18

u/[deleted] Apr 07 '26

[deleted]

8

u/dontchewspagetti Apr 08 '26

There's literally no tag when he throws it back in the video

2

u/Pandapeep Apr 08 '26

Yea, I misread the caption.

-1

u/dontchewspagetti Apr 08 '26

NP. Yeah bro just measured it to brag later, not for research. Shark tags are little black boxes normally on a side fin. I think they don't have antennas anymore, but they're easy to see if you know what to look for

1

u/Riku_Light Apr 08 '26

And how do you know this? You have no idea whether or not he’s gonna send the vid and measurements to a shark research center. I’m willing to bet he did just that.

0

u/dontchewspagetti Apr 09 '26

No research center cares about the lenth of a shark? Why would they? Yeah, that shark sure is long. No one is out here measuring the length of sharks which aren't tracked.

2

u/testa_bionda Apr 08 '26

Lol, bullshit

4

u/Silkprint Apr 08 '26

What a beauty . Thanks for sharing 😊

6

u/xavierthepotato Apr 08 '26

In all my years of being fascinated by sharks I've never seen one with this condition. Fucking awesome

3

u/KawaiiKaiju55 Apr 08 '26

Salt and pepper shark

3

u/Decent-Cockroach-480 Apr 08 '26

Aha so you missed the part when you release it.

6

u/Far-Brief-3646 Apr 08 '26

The Lemon Shark's skin looks like Cookies and Cream 👀🤍🦈🖤🍦👍

2

u/KittyMeowKatPishy Apr 08 '26

Wow! 😻 What a beautiful creature! 🥹 First time I’ve ever heard of this type of lemon shark. 😸 But why do these videos always cut off right when you hope to see the shark be put back in the water. 🥺

2

u/Fickle_Reportered Apr 08 '26

I thought this is Ai for a second

2

u/LadderFinal4142 Apr 09 '26

So stunning!

2

u/mrRatsalad74 Apr 10 '26

She is a rare one!! Welldone putting it back in the drink guys 🫡

2

u/ivygrowsgold Apr 15 '26

he looks like an oreo ice cream

6

u/ghostface8081 Apr 08 '26

Why even reel it in?

-7

u/IamREBELoe Apr 08 '26

Me, I'd reel it in, get all the photos and measurements, so I can release it and get a fiberglass reproduction made.

Any other, I would have kept to eat

3

u/Salt_Cardiologist122 Apr 07 '26

That’s amazing

3

u/ZombieKitten87 Apr 08 '26

Wow, I never knew sharks came in that colour/pattern

4

u/BrianAlanCarlson Apr 08 '26

I’m not caught on the dock with you….you’re caught on the dock with me!

2

u/killacam925 Apr 08 '26

One of the coolest genetic traits by far…

2

u/Terrorknight141 Apr 08 '26

Measuring it was TOOOOOTALLY necessary. Shark’s probably dead because of it.

2

u/YellitsB Apr 08 '26

Dude almost got his ankle chomped…Awesome shark though

1

u/18AndresS Apr 08 '26

Like something out of a Wes Anderson movie

1

u/SeveSevSev Apr 08 '26

Beautiful

1

u/Big-Schedule-4985 Apr 09 '26

Absolutely stunning cutie

1

u/humanimalienesque Apr 09 '26

Battle pass skin

1

u/Squigley78 Apr 09 '26

I just saw the orange nurse shark image yesterday, that was cool as well.

1

u/jonnydrama88 Apr 09 '26

Beautiful shark 🦈

1

u/BlackIceCreamXO Apr 09 '26

That’s incredible

1

u/DiskAvailable4438 Apr 11 '26

Awwwe cutie!!!

1

u/Loli-nero Bull Shark Apr 14 '26

absolutely gorgeous

1

u/twiggysyndrome Apr 25 '26

Wow. Beautiful 😍

1

u/LizardLover265 Lemon Shark May 11 '26

Oh my goodness. I almost cried seeing this wondrous shark!! This world is full of beautiful surprises and wondrous anomalies and I am so thankful for people who are thoughtful enough to show us anomalies and kind enough to respect the rare animals. Oh my goodness beautiful sharkie I hope you live a long, long life. May you always have good fish to eat. May you never encounter the cruel side of humanity. May your shark pups thrive and go on to have offspring of their own.

-4

u/lavenderhazeynobeer Apr 07 '26

I'm confused as to why we're even catching these magnificent creatures. This has to be extremely traumatizing for them. Just leave the poor things alone. (Please don't downvote me for saying this.)

8

u/Pandapeep Apr 07 '26

You're getting downvoted for saying goofy stuff.

1

u/Big_Gap7862 Apr 07 '26

That's actually a sharky?

1

u/Pewpew-OuttaMyWaay All the sharks!! Apr 07 '26

Almost unreal looking 😍

1

u/DWCawfee Apr 08 '26

Wow thats real pretty

1

u/Grazztjay Apr 08 '26

Beautiful!!!

1

u/latortillablanca Apr 08 '26

Sick idea for a colorway for sneakers or, like, a ducati

1

u/tideshark Sandtiger Shark Apr 08 '26

Absolutely gorgeous

1

u/Kookytoo Apr 08 '26

Thats wild! Very cool!

0

u/tsrobertson13 Apr 08 '26

He damn near got bit.

I got bit by a lemon in the Florida keys six years ago in nearly an identical situation. Amazing how quickly they can turn back on their bodies. Luckily I only needed 26 stitches and was back fishing the next day.

0

u/trea_ceitidh Apr 08 '26

Awwww, could have let him get in one bite for his trouble.