Two Canadians save shark from choking on moose

[Red Squirrel]

Only in Canada. :biggrin:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfo...ark-rescued-in-newfoundland-harbour-1.2434102

Two quick-thinking men on Newfoundland's northeast coast managed to save a Greenland shark from choking to death on a large piece of moose hide this past weekend.

Derrick Chaulk said he was driving down a road by the harbour in Norris Arm North this past Saturday when he saw what he thought was a beached whale.

When Chaulk went closer to investigate, he realized it was a shark, which he estimated was about 2.5 metres long, and weighed about 115 kg.

The animal was still alive and had a large chunk of moose hide protruding from its mouth.

"It [the moose] had the fur and all the liner on it — it was about two feet long, maybe."
Two-part rescue effort

Chaulk said another local man, Jeremy Ball, arrived on the scene and starting pulling on the moose chunk.
Shark rescue

Jeremy Ball of Norris Arm North, N.L., moves the beached shark into deeper water. (Courtesy Derrick Chaulk )

"A couple yanks and it just came right out."

The two men then set about getting the shark back in the water.

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," said Chaulk, "and between the two of us we got him out into deeper water."

Chaulk said 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,"
Rare sight

Greenland sharks are rarely seen on the northeast coast of Newfoundland. It is a lumbering bottom dweller that spends most of its long life blinded from parasites feeding on its corneas.

They are scavengers, and they feed on food found in shallow water. While their diet is usually fish, they have been found in other jurisdictions to have eaten animals that found their way to the water, from polar bears to reindeer.

The creature goes long periods without food, so when it comes across even a discarded carcass, such as a moose, it will gorge itself to near suffocation.

Chaulk said people clean and gut moose on a nearby bank of land and throw the scraps of the butchered animals into the harbour.

Chaulk speculated that the shark bit off more than he could chew.

"He swallowed and got it halfway down and couldn't cough it back up and couldn't get it all down, and then I think the tide brought him in."
Shark may have been OK, says scientist

A scientist said the shark may not have been in as much danger as the two men thought.

Jeffrey Gallant, the president and lead scientist at the Greenland Shark and Elasmobranch Education and Research Group, said the beached shark may have just been enjoying a large meal.

Gallant added that Chaulk and Ball did the right thing, although he would not have yanked out the moose bits.

"When you're man-handling a shark like this and trying to get it back in the water, the fact that its mouth was otherwise pre-occupied by chewing on the meat, you reduce the risk yourself of getting bit accidentally."

Chaulk said after the shark started breathing again, the animal lay in the shallow water for about 30 minutes, then headed out to sea.

"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."

 

[dennilfloss]

Good for them! Newfies are awesome.

 

[Nebor]

I'm going to have to side with the "scientist." How can a shark "choke" on a peice of food? All of it's gas-exchange occurs in the gills.

 

[Albatross]

Now only if they saved a moose from a chocking on a shark,that would have been impressive.

 

[sandorski]

They fed a couple Americans to it?

 

[dud]

"It is a lumbering bottom dweller that spends most of its long life blinded from parasites feeding on its corneas."


I've never felt bad for a shark before ...

 

[JTsyo]

"It is a lumbering bottom dweller that spends most of its long life blinded from parasites feeding on its corneas."


I've never felt bad for a shark before ...

yea, that got me too. I wonder how the parasites get between sharks after they eat their eyes out.

 

[Exterous]

I'm going to have to side with the "scientist." How can a shark "choke" on a peice of food? All of it's gas-exchange occurs in the gills.

Yeah but they still need a constant flow of water that is typically drawn in through the mouth

"It is a lumbering bottom dweller that spends most of its long life blinded from parasites feeding on its corneas."


I've never felt bad for a shark before ...

No kidding

 

[dank69]

WTF sharks are now walking on land and hunting moose? We're all fucked.

 

[lupi]

Cannucks making some wierd porn.

 

[SagaLore]

It is a lumbering bottom dweller that spends most of its long life blinded from parasites feeding on its corneas.

D:

 

[Mermaidman]

That "River Monsters" guy, Jeremy Wade, made such a big spectacle out of trying to catch a Greenland shark. I guess he was unaware of using moose.

WTF sharks are now walking on land and hunting moose? We're all fucked.

Wasn't that movie on SyFy channel last week? :biggrin:

 

[Exterous]

That "River Monsters" guy, Jeremy Wade, made such a big spectacle out of trying to catch a Greenland shark. I guess he was unaware of using moose.

Everyone knows you gotta use the right bait

 

[Theb]

"It is a lumbering bottom dweller that spends most of its long life blinded from parasites feeding on its corneas."


I've never felt bad for a shark before ...

Sounds miserable. It was probably trying to kill itself.

 

[darkewaffle]

Yeah that bit about it's eyes is kinda fucked. Nature is weird.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Yeah that bit about it's eyes is kinda fucked. Nature is weird.

They probably don't need them most of the time anyhow. Many of them live under the ice sheet. I first heard about this species when watching scientists ice fishing off the bottom of the sea floor near the North Pole.

Basically, when reindeer die, Santa just cuts a hole in the ice and drops their carcasses down for these critters to eat them.

 

[Ken g6]

...a lumbering bottom dweller that spends most of its long life blinded from parasites...

That would make a great out-of-context sig quote. But it's a little too out-of-context for me.

 

[SandEagle]

i love Canadians, so friendly. i'd easily move there if they offered me a 200k/yr job.

 

[ElFenix]

i think that's jeff foxworthy's dorkfish

 

[Scarpozzi]

i love Canadians, so friendly. i'd easily move there if they offered me a 200k/yr job.

Is that 200k USD or that funny money they pass around?