Determined diver works to free large shark tangled in reef off Florida, video shows
A scuba diver decided to try rescuing an entangled shark, and video of the encounter shows the shark was not only uncooperative but stole the diver pliers.
It happened Monday, July 24, in 18 to 22 feet of water off John Beasley Park in Florida’s Panhandle, according to diver Tazz Felde.
“We were made aware of a nurse shark in distress at a local man-made reef here in Destin,” Felde wrote in a July 24 YouTube post.
“Another diver reported that he and his dive buddy came across a large nurse shark that was trapped and had a hook in its mouth (that was) tethered to one of the reef structures. They had made several attempts to free the animal with no luck. So myself and a fellow diver (Diver Dan) headed to Beasley to see if we could help.”
Video shows they found the shark helplessly sitting on the seafloor, with a large hook in the corner of its mouth. The hook was attached to fishing line that had become wrapped around a piece of the reef, essentially chaining the shark like a dog to a tree.
What followed was more a wrestling match than a rescue, with Felde trying to remove the hook and/or cut the steel leader while the shark butted him with its head.
It’s not clear how long the tug-of-war played out, but an edited version of the video shows the shark broke free when Felde severed the fishing line — and it took his pliers with it.
“Hopefully the hook will eventually rust out and the remaining leader will fall out as well,” Felde wrote.
He estimates the shark was between 6.5 and 7 feet long.
Felde jokes that he was compelled to help the shark by his wife.
“My wife, Courtney, told me if I didn’t go free the shark she was going to do it!” he told McClatchy News. “But seriously we love sharks and all marine life. There was no way I was going to rest easy knowing that that shark was trapped and could possibly die if I didn’t do something.”
Nurse sharks live in waters near the shore on both sides of Florida, and they are “often seen lying motionless on the bottom,” according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. They grow to about 9 feet in length and have “been involved in only a few attacks on humans, most of which were provoked.”
Beasley Park is about 42 miles east of Pensacola.
This story was originally published July 26, 2023 at 12:11 PM with the headline "Determined diver works to free large shark tangled in reef off Florida, video shows."