STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - An Icelandic fishing captain, known as "the
Iceman" for his tough character, grabbed a 660-pound shark with his bare
hands as it swam in shallow water toward his crew, a witness said
Thursday.

The skipper of the trawler "Erik the Red" was on a beach in Kuummiit,
east Greenland, watching his crew processing a catch when he saw the
shark swimming toward the fish blood and guts -- and his men.

Captain Sigurdur Petursson, known to locals as "the Iceman," ran into
the shallow water and grabbed the shark by its tail. He dragged it off
to dry land and killed it with his knife.

"He caught it just with his hands. There was a lot of blood in the sea
and the shark came in and he thought it was dangerous," Frede Kilime, a
hunter and fisherman who watched from the beach, told Reuters by phone
from Greenland.

Icelandic author and journalist Reynir Traustason, who knows the trawler
captain, said the act was typical of the man.

"He's called 'the Iceman' because he isn't scared of anything," he said.
"I know the people in that part of the world. They are really tough."