A Greenland shark, choking on a piece of moose hide was saved by two men on Newfoundland’s north east shore on Saturday.
Derrick Chaulk said he was driving by the harbour in Norris Arm North when he saw what he thought was a beached whale. When he got close he realized it was a shark, which he estimated was about 2.5 metres long, and weighed about 115 kg. The shark was alive with a chunk of moose hide, about two feet long, protruding from its mouth.
Jeremy Ball joined in the rescue. “A couple yanks and it just came right out.” Ball said in a CBC interview. Then, Ball tied a rope around the shark’s tail, and Chaulk got ready to push. “He pulled the rope, and I pushed with my boot,” Chaulk said, “and between the two of us we got him out into deeper water.”
According to Chaulk, the shark lay in about 30 cm of water for a few minutes. “Then all of a sudden, the water started coming out of his gills and he started breathing.
Greenland sharks are scavengers and not a common site off the coast of Newfoundland. They usually eat fish, but they feed on food in shallow water and have been seen in other areas eating animals from polar bears to reindeer.
“There was a few people up on the bank watching and once that shark swam out and lifted his tail, and then swam all the way out, everybody just clapped,” said Chaulk.
“It was a good feeling to see that shark swim out, knowing that you saved his life.”
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