MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. (WNCT) — The 66th Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament kicked off Monday with 271 of the 302 boats entering the water. Boats have two lay days where they must stay at shore during ...

The boat's crew isn't accused of any wrongdong. Their catch in the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament in North Carolina was disqualified because it was mutilated — bitten by a shark or another animal.

Big Rock officials say all 272 teams are laying out today. Officials tell WITN they believe this is the first time in the tournament’s history that all boats have bowed out on the same day.

Big Rock says another boat, ‘Cost Plus’, picked up the people, pulling them out of the ocean. ‘Cost Plus’ is not in the tournament, and just happened to be fishing in the area at the time.

The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament — which awarded a total purse of more than $7.5 million last year — again will be lucrative when boats hit the water in the coming days. But the event has ...