Vet braves jaws to save gray nurse shark from gaff

A THREE-metre grey nurse shark has had a lucky escape from a slow and painful death after marine experts removed a fishing gaff embedded in its throat yesterday.

Local scuba divers spotted the distraught female hiding near Julian Rocks in the Cape Byron Marine Park and immediately reported their sighting to authorities.

A crew of marine experts from Sea World, the NSW Fisheries Department and the Byron Bay Marine Park Authority set out yesterday morning in an ambitious bid to locate and save the endangered shark.

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Photo gallery: Shark rescue mission
Video: Gaff removed from shark
Photo gallery: Gold Coast sharks
Sea World director of marine sciences Trevor Long led the expedition on the theme park's rescue boat which left from the Gold Coast at 5am.

"We had an ambitious thought that we could find the shark and catch it and we were prepared to stay as long as it took," he said.

"However, we were extremely fortunate to find it on the first dive."

Three divers descended to 14m armed with strong rope in a bid to lasso the injured fish. Using years of practice, Mr Long stalked her from above and dropped a lasso around her gills. "It was a tricky move but we were lucky she was pretty docile after her injury," he said.

The next step was not so easy with divers having to manoeuvre her into the unique Sea World designed 'Challenger' -- a perforated perspex triangle tube used to protect the shark and divers from each other as it is winched aboard the rescue boat.

Once on board she was lowered into a 4000-litre tank and flipped on her back, a move that sends sharks into a deep slumber.

"We didn't need anaesthetic because by turning her upside down she automatically goes into a dormant state," he said.

But her trance did not stop her from lashing out a few times as Sea World veterinarian David Blyde began the process of removing the hooked metal implement from her gullet. Four crew members straddled her large body to restrain her as the operation progressed.

"Everyone was really tense because we knew something could go wrong at any moment," said Mr Long, but the crew's anxious silence broke into jubilant cheers as the offending metal was removed from her jaws after the two-hour operation.

The grey nurse is believed to be in good health as there was no bleeding when the gaff was removed.

She was given a dose of antibiotics as a precaution and a pop-up satellite tag so that her movements and recovery could be monitored by scientists.

NSW Minister for Primary Industries Ian MacDonald commended the crew for their efficiency and expertise. "This was an extraordinarily difficult and dangerous operation and I congratulate everyone involved in the rescue for their professionalism and speedy response," he said.

Byron Underwater Research Group spokesman Gerard Braithwaite said members had been diving with the Byron Bay Dive Centre to gather information for a fish survey when they spotted it. "We were all horrified because we are all conservationists and it is very distressing to see an animal like this one in pain," he said.

Noted local dive photographer John Natoli took the first pictures of the shark which helped authorities locate her.

"When he showed us the photo he took we first thought it was a broom handle before we realised it was a gaff," he said.

Mr Braithwaite said it was very unusual to see a shark with such a bad injury but many sharks were regularly seen with hooks in their mouths.

"While the grey nurses are protected quite well in this marine park they still get hooked," he said. "This shark was lucky that help came along because it was slowly starving with the gaff preventing it from hunting food."

How the shark got the gaff wedged in its mouth will stay a mystery but authorities said it was unlikely to be a case of foul play.

"It's hard to imagine anyone would try and stab a grey nurse, especially with the fines in place, but it is possible the shark was accidentally gaffed instead of a fish," he said.

http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2008/07/17/13773_gold-coast-lead-story.html