A huge porbeagle shark has been reeled in by an angler fishing off the north Devon coast.

Graeme Pullen, 62, was fishing for pollack when a massive 2.5m porbeagle shark, weighing 205kg, took his bait.

The angler battled with the shark for half an hour, with the animal dragging his small fibreglass boat in circles, and even biting the vessel to try and break free.

Finally, he was able to tag the shark’s dorsal fin before releasing it safely back into the waters, with the whole experience leaving him visibly trembling on the video published by Totally Awesome Fishing.

Pullen has not released any information about the exact location of the catch for fear of upsetting Devon tourism chiefs, as people are put off visiting areas after reports of large sharks in the area. However, the North Devon Journal reports that it was caught “less than a mile from a popular North Devon beach”.

The porbeagle (Lamna nasus) is a species of mackerel shark along with the great white and the rare goblin shark, one of which was recently caught off the coast of Florida in the US. However, porbeagles are not considered to be a threat to humans, with the 2.5m shark caught by Pullen about as large as they grow.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed the porbeagle as Vulnerable worldwide, and as either Endangered or Critically Endangered in different parts of its northern Atlantic.