Video: Fisherman reels in great white shark at tourist spot in LA

CBSLA.com

A fisherman got more than he bargained for when he reeled in a great white shark at the Manhattan Beach Pier - a spot popular with tourists, surfers and swimmers in Los Angeles.

Eric Martin, the director of the Roundhouse Marine Studies Lab and Aquarium in Manhattan Beach, witnessed the sight.

He told CBS Local: "I basically said, 'Holy crap, that's a great white shark.'"

Mr Martin had received a call from the fisherman asking for help, and he managed to get a few snaps of the young eight-foot shark before they set it free right near an unknowing swimmer.

He added: "We cut the line and the swimmer came right around (here) and they kind of met, but he was oblivious. He just kept swimming around."

Martin said the bay is a nursery for great white sharks, and that they are not interested in attacking humans, adding: "More people step on stingrays at the beach."

It is the second great white shark sighting in the area in two months.