HOUSTON (KIAH) Local fisherman, Jason Schilling is going viral on TikTok. His shark siting has over four million views on the platform.
Schilling visited CW39 exclusively to tell his story and share his reaction of when he first spotted a 10-11 foot long hammerhead shark along the shoreline.
It was May 24th when Schilling would see something he’s never seen in all his years of fishing – a giant hammerhead shark. He was at the dirt trails along the San Luis Pass toll bridge where you pay $2 to cross over.
It (the video) just started going crazy on TikTok and everyone’s messaging me over it but all I was doing was fishing in the morning, with artificial lures and there’s like a little trench right there. Then I hear this big old splash coming out the water. I turn around behind me and it’s this big hammerhead shark.
Jason Schilling
He was quick to pull out his phone and record.
That’s when I was like ‘what the heck is that?!’ I couldn’t believe it so that’s when I pulled out my phone and started recording to see if it would come back out again. Sure enough I got those two more videos of it.
Jason Schilling
Most Texans have never seen a hammerhead shark and in all Schilling’s years as an experienced fisherman, this was even a surprise for him.
I didn’t expect it to come back out after that. That was really cool. You don’t see that too often. Especially in Galveston, because our waters aren’t clear. I know that’s normal for them to feed in the shallows. They’re feeding on stingrays or flounders or whatever other bait fish. Other than that, it’s really cool to see it and capture on video. I’ve gone fishing out there probably once a week or once every other weekend for the past 15 years. I’ve never seen them (hammerheads) out there. I’ve seen everything else. Dolphins, sea turtles, but have never seen a hammerhead shark come out.
Jason Schilling
And this experienced fisherman knows the difference…
Some have mistaken bonnethead sharks for hammerhead sharks, but they’re different. Some say they have seen those bonnethead sharks in the shallows a lot. However, they’re not hammerhead sharks. I’ve never actually seen a hammerhead shark out there so that was pretty good to see.
Jason Schilling
