An enormous shark in Florida was called ‘Old Hitler’ for a strange reason

For decades, Florida residents have reported sightings of a legendary hammerhead shark along the state’s southern Gulf coast.

Massive sharks are not uncommon off the coast of Florida, but this hammerhead has been described by supposed witnesses as exceeding 20 feet in length and weighing over 2,000 pounds, truly qualifying as a gigantic shark.

This story has mainly spread among fishermen operating along the Gulf coast, particularly in areas like Tampa Bay or Sarasota. The shark’s nickname is sure to catch the attention of those who come across it.

“Old Hitler.”

As reported by the Naples Daily News, these legends originated during World War II when German U-boats started to appear along the east coast of the United States. This led to several American ships being sunk by German submarines near Florida, prompting the U.S. military to deploy airships to patrol the state’s coastline.

However, private ships sailing these waters grew paranoid about being attacked by Germans, and they often reported seeing unidentified watercraft around shipping ports — though many of these sightings were ultimately found to just be large hammerhead sharks swimming near the surface.

And with commercial fishing becoming more popular after the war, fishermen began to encounter large hammerheads increasingly often, bringing a rise in fishing tales about the giant hammerheads.

Many of these stories described a shark “as dark as a shadow and covered in scars,” the Naples Daily News reports. Others said the shark had machete wounds and a knife stuck in its fin — the result of messing with a fisherman’s haul and bumping his boat.

In some stories, the scar on Old Hitler’s head is shaped like a swastika: a result of his encounter with a boat propeller, a harpoon, or perhaps even a fight with another mean-mannered shark.

But is there any truth to these old fishing tales?

Many anglers in the region have their own tales to tell about the creature, though some of these stories could be true.

The FWC reports that great hammerhead sharks — the largest of their species — are known to frequent inlets and bay mouths along Florida’s Gulf Coast. They’ve been known to reach nearly 20 feet long and can live over 20 years.

In addition, great hammerheads reportedly rank seventh for unprovoked attacks on people, and they often get inadvertently tangled up in fishing lines by fishing boats along the coast.

As such, it could be that the legend evolved from several different great hammerhead sharks who had run-ins with fishermen near the coast.

“When people see a very large hammerhead shark, they just want to say, ‘That must be Old Hitler,’” Director Bob Hueter of the Center for Shark Research at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota told the Tampa Bay Times in 2007. “I think it’s just a catchy nickname.”

Regardless of the truth, it makes for an entertaining Florida monster myth.

For more crazy stories and legends from across Central Florida, be sure to check out News 6’s “Florida Fables” page by clicking here.

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