Shark Rescue

Australian divers got up close and personal with a grey nurse shark that was in desperate need of saving last week in a "first-of-its-kind" rescue caught on tape, via 7News Sydney, picked up by GrindTV. Somehow the young female shark—spotted breathing heavily in a shark habitat off Sydney—had managed to get an elastic band wrapped around her body. The band acted like a noose, slowly killing the shark as it pressed in on her gills. That's when a vet team swam into action, wrestling the shark into a clear plastic "sock" that could bring her to the surface—"the first time that we've run this kind of operation in the wild," a SeaLife sanctuary worker said.

"When you're dealing with a wild animal like this anything can happen," he added, noting, "Their teeth are always on display and they are very sharp." At the surface, however, a vet was able to cut the cord, which left a nasty wound and had probably been there for some time. After an antibiotic shot, the shark went freely on her way and should be fully healed in a month or so, 7News reports. "If we hadn't intervened, I have no doubt it would have died, the elastic would have kept cutting deeper and deeper into the neck," the vet said.

veya_victaous wrote:yeah but it was a grey nurse shark like it says "the Labrador of the sea"
sure in theory it is big enough and has a mouth full of teeth but unless you really provoke it, it wont attack.

Grey nurses have teeth for catching smaller fish  not for cutting chunks of larger animals like most of the sharks of that size and appearance (hook like teeth, not razor triangles). they are actually more like dolphins in their behaviour towards swimmers.  I would feel completely safe swimming around them, knowing that they are going to get out of there if an Actual Dangerous shark comes along   

veya_victaous wrote:yeah but it was a grey nurse shark like it says "the Labrador of the sea"
sure in theory it is big enough and has a mouth full of teeth but unless you really provoke it, it wont attack.

 

Croissant wrote:

veya_victaous wrote:yeah but it was a grey nurse shark like it says "the Labrador of the sea"
sure in theory it is big enough and has a mouth full of teeth but unless you really provoke it, it wont attack.

 

So a bit like Sassy then.  ::D:: 

Sassy wrote:Why thank you Shady!  LOL   Just remember that next time you have one of your funny turns.    

Lone Wolf wrote:
The Great Majority of sharks are our friends.

Out of the 300+ species and sub-species of sharks that live in Australian waters, less than 30 have been identified as having bitten people, and that includes the odd Port Jackson, wobbegong and baby Bull sharks that nibble on one's tootsies out of curiosity..

Most deaths by shark are from Great whites and Bull sharks doing the occasional taste testing - the mythical "man eaters" so beloved of the Hollywood Studios are the rare exceptions rather than the rule.

The conservation and environmental groups like to point out that "People eat a lot more sharks than sharks eat people !" ~ worldwide only 4-5 humans are killed by sharks each year. In comparison, MILLIONS of sharks are netted, caught on "long-line" traps, and processed by floating factory ships into FISH FINGERS, fish patties and "seafood extender" every year.