Scuba divers save shark from certain death

In Australia, a pair of divers rescued a baby shark that was stuck on the bottom after it swallowed a hook from broken fishing tackle.

Footage of divers rescuing a small shark stuck to the sea bed with a hook has been making waves on the internet in recent days. Although the situation ended happily, it shows the danger posed by broken and lost fishing tackle.

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Jules Casey and PT Hirschfield, are a pair of dive buddies who on one of their dives near Flinders Pier off the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia, came across a young Australian hornbill(Heterodontus portusjacksoni) that was in serious trouble.

This little girl has been through an extremely stressful time, but she was strong and will hopefully make a full recovery, although she was close to death,” commented one of the divers

At first after spotting the shark they thought it was dead, but then they noticed that its gills were still moving. After they lifted the horned shark off the bottom, it began to struggle, and the divers quickly realised that it was hooked to the bottom by a fishing line, the other end of which was stuck in its mouth.

Hirschfield cut the line and freed the shark, but this only solved part of the problem as the rusted hook was still stuck in the fish’s mouth. With no way to remove it on the spot, the divers decided to swim closer to the pier with the shark and ask a fisherman for help.

Eventually the hook was removed, and moments later the shark was able to enjoy its freedom again and swim freely.

Had it not been for the intervention of divers, the shark would probably have been stuck at the bottom until it starved to death. Sadly, however, broken ghost nets and fishing tackle take their toll every year, with thousands of animals inhabiting the world’s seas and oceans.