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Great white shark caught, released in Panama City Beach

Three men caught and released a great white shark in Panama City Beach on Sunday, AL.com reports.

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. — Gabriel Smeby told the website that he and two other anglers, Derrick Keeny and Kyle Register, caught the 9-foot, 8-and-a-half-inch male shark about 3:15 am Sunday.

It took the trio about 45 minutes to bring the shark ashore, Smeby said.

Photos: Great white shark caught, released in Florida

"Then it kind of rolled sideways in the surf and we realized it was a white shark," Smeby said.

The men snapped a few photos of their catch, then tagged and released it, Smeby said.

The images have been posted on the Facebook page of the Dark Side Sharkers. Smeby, Keeny and Register are members of the group, which focuses on catching, photographing and releasing sharks.

"I feel like we made history the other day," Smeby said. "We talk to everybody from Texas to the southern tip of Florida up the eastern seaboard, and as far as we can tell, it's the only one land-based ever caught in the Gulf of Mexico."