A dying tiger shark off Australia was nursed back to life by divers who took turns
swimming with the shark for one and a half hours in an effort to keep it upright
and to get oxygen into its gills. Just as the conservationists were about to give up,
the shark kicked, indicating new life.
After a couple more strong kicks, the tiger shark regained its strength and swam off on its own,
The Australian and WA Today reported Wednesday, April 2.
The success story comes amid the controversial shark-culling program implemented as a means to reduce the risk of shark attacks off the Western Australian coast.
The program, launched in January and scheduled to run until April 30, involves WA Fisheries
deploying baited drum lines (baited fishing lines connected to a floating drum) just over half a mile
off Perth’s metropolitan beaches.
Any tiger shark, bull shark, or great white shark longer than 3 meters (9.8 feet) caught
on the hooks are shot dead. Smaller ones are measured, tagged, and released.
But they aren’t always released alive or in good shape, since the sharks could have been hooked
for up to 14 hours before the lines were checked.
When fisheries officials released a 7.8-foot tiger shark near Trigg Beach, observers on three boats
noted that it was floating just under the surface and began turning upside down, indicating imminent death.
About 15 divers from a Sea Shepherd vessel and an Animal Amnesty boat began taking turns
swimming with the tiger shark in an effort to revive it. Among the divers were
shark conservationists Riley Elliott, a PhD student at the University of Auckland, and Ocean Ramsey,
the Hawaiian who came to fame when she was photographed riding the dorsal fin of a huge great white shark.
“It wasn’t particularly dangerous,” Amy-Lea Wilkins of Animal Amnesty told The Australian. “We could see the shark was close to death
and it was a matter of everyone taking turns—two people swimming with the shark and one spotter.
“We kept tickling it under the chin and moving it to help get the oxygen into its system.
It was really beautiful to see it swim off.”
Thank you guys!
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which can be found here:
http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/nature/post/tiger-shark-nursed-back-to-life-amid-australias-controversial-shark-culling-program/
