Surfer Rescues Beached Great White Shark, Then Goes Surfing

by Jordan Yerman | August 5, 2010 at 11:15 am

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It's Shark Week: Surfer Rescues Great White with Help From Bold Beachgoer

A surfer found a great white shark stranded on Hungry Head Beach in New South Wales, Australia. Their positions reversed for a change, he showed mercy to the prehistoric creature, and, with the help of passing beachgoer Andrew Eckersley, proceeded to rescue the shark by guiding it back out into the water.

The citizen shark-rescuers had to get hands-on, guiding the great white into waist-deep water. The shark swam away slowly... the men ran back ashore quickly. Photographer Ruth Fahey documented the shark rescue action.

According to Fahey, one of the rescuers went surfing right after sending the great white back out to sea.

However, the shark was found dead the next day, its lower jaw ripped off by trophy hunters.

“As it was threshing about, they tried first to dig the sand away beneath it to refloat it but ended up man-handling it back into the water. It was still very sluggish when they got to knee deep water so the surfer waded it out until he was waist deep.”