Astonishing footage captured the moment three teenagers pulled in a giant six-metre sawfish while they were fishing on a beach.
Owen Wells and three of his high school friends were on the beach in Port Hedland, near Karratha in Western ‘s far north-west in November when the trio noticed something odd.
While the teens were catching plenty of small fish, Owen noticed one particular fish was tugging more strongly on the end of his fishing line.
‘There was this massive run … and it just kept on going,’ he told the ABC.
What followed was a two-and-a-half hour battle to reel in the fish before the boys found out, much to their surprise, that Owen had caught a huge green sawfish around six metres in length.
Owen Wells and his mates caught a massive six-metre green sawfish (pictured) at a Port Hedland beach in November last year
Video uploaded to Instagram showed the moment Owen reeled the fish in as storms and heavy gusts of wind lashed the beach.
The hook on the end of the line was firmly inside the nose of the fish as it was pulled onto the beach.
The shocked teenagers quickly worked to pull the sawfish further up the sand before Owen posed for photos with the endangered creature taken by his friends.
Owen said it took six people to haul the fish on the sand and described the surreal moment of catching the massive fish.
‘It was just so strong. It felt like I’d hooked a train or a submarine,’ he said.
‘It looks like a dinosaur when you’re standing next to it.’
Sawfish have a shark-like body and a distinct thin, long nose with several pairs of ‘rostral teeth’ on the side of the nose (stock image of a sawfish)
Green sawfish are a rare species found along coastal waters, rivers, and beaches across northern .
The marine creature has a shark-like body and is identified by a distinct thin, long nose that protrudes from the front of the animal’s body.
The nose features up to 28 pairs of what are known as ‘rostral teeth’ on the side of the blade-like snout.
Sawfish usually grow up to five metres in length in n waters, however the animal can grow up to 7.6m in length.
Sawfish usually grow up to five metres in length in n waters however. the animal can grow up to a length of 7.6metres (stock image of a sawfish)
The endangered species is prone to getting caught in fishing and shark nets because of its long nose.
While the current population of the species in is unknown, the animal is considered extinct across the east coast according to the n Marine Conservation Society, with the species last seen in NSW in 1972.
Owen said that he and his his friends quickly worked to release the fish back into the water as by law, sawfish must be returned once they have been caught.