Honestly, I wouldn't want to meet this fellow on a dive...

The Shark Men crew work to keep the great white shark nicknamed Apache alive on board their boat.

Photograph courtesy National Geographic Channel

Christine Dell'Amore, National Geographic News, Published May 6, 2011

Talk about a big fish—an expedition crew has hauled up—and released—what the team says is the biggest great white shark yet caught.

The 17.9-foot-long (5.5-meter-long) male behemoth was found off Mexico's Guadalupe Island.

The animal breaks the team's previous record of 16.8 feet (5.1 meters), set when they caught a female great white named Kimel. (Both records are unofficial and not maintained by a formal organization.)

The new titleholder was named Apache after the dog of Brett McBride, boat captain on the National Geographic Channel show Shark Men. Shark Men chronicles the work of scientists and fishers who catch and release great whites in an effort to figure out where the mysterious giants breed and give birth. The scientific team is led by Michael Domeier, president and executive director of the Marine Conservation Science Institute.

The two-ton Apache put up a fight—at one point breaking free from his barbless hook, said expedition leader Chris Fischer.

"The battle with Apache was like nothing we've ever dealt with," Fischer said.

Once on board, the researchers fitted the fish with a satellite-tracking tag, took a blood sample, and released him, watching him vigorously swim away.

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