Divers Save Dying Tiger Shark Near Australian Beach

A dying tiger shark in Australian waters 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 showed signs of recovery.

After a while, the tiger shark regained its strength and swam off on its own.

The success story comes amid the controversial shark-culling program that was put in place by the government of Western Australia to reduce the risk of shark attacks off the WA coast.

The program, launched in January and scheduled to run until the 30th April, 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. Sea Shepherd released this video showing part of the rescue:

Source: www.grindtv.com