The Largest Thresher Shark Ever Caught in North Carolina Was as Big as a Beluga Whale

Did you know that the largest thresher shark in North Carolina is nearly five times the size of the last record holder? Keep reading below to learn more about this shark and the record-breaker the size of a beluga whale!

Species Profile: Thresher Shark

There are three living species of thresher shark: the pelagic thresher, the bigeye thresher, and the common thresher. The other thirteen species in the genus have gone extinct, unfortunately. One of these extinct species is the giant thresher, which would have been around the size of a modern-day great white shark. However, how big are the thresher sharks that still swim in the oceans of the world today?

The smallest species of thresher shark is the pelagic thresher (Alopias pelagicus). These sharks are found in the warmer waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Adults tend to measure up to 10 feet long. For reference, that’s the same length as a small moving truck. They can weigh up to almost 195 pounds.

The bigeye thresher (Alopias superciliosus) is much larger. Adults only grow up to around 13.1 feet long but can weigh as much as 350 pounds. Named for their large eyes, the eye of this species can be as large as almost 4 inches across!

The common thresher shark is the largest living species in the Alopias genus. On average, adults can reach up to around 19 feet in length and weigh over 1000 pounds! The heaviest common thresher was a female weighing 1120 pounds.

Thresher sharks can be found in all temperate and tropical waters throughout the world. All three species are listed as vulnerable to extinction.

Largest Thresher Shark in the World

While the largest thresher shark on record wasn’t caught in North Carolina, it’s still an ocean giant worth talking about!

Above, you learned that, on average, even the largest of the common threshers only reaches about 19 to 20 feet in length. However, the largest thresher shark in the world is more than 1.5 times that size. This shark, caught by Roger Nowell near the Lands End peninsula off of Cornwall, was an estimated 32 feet, and it weigh 1250 pounds.

Largest Thresher Shark in North Carolina

The largest thresher shark in North Carolina was a common thresher shark. While fishing with Oak Island Fishing Charters on January 10th, 2023, off of Oak Island, fisherman Steven Viltoft of Southport happened to get a rather large fish on the hook. Once he reeled in his catch, it was none other than a massive common thresher shark. 

Viltoft’s shark measured in at a whopping 589 pounds, 1 ounce. As for length, this shark had a length from nose to tail of over 164 inches, making it just as long as a beluga whale. The previous record for thresher sharks in North Carolina was only a fraction of this size, with a shark weighing 185 pounds.