Greenland Shark Dramatically Saved From Choking After Trying to Eat Moose (PHOTO)
A Greenland shark has been dramatically saved by two fearless men just off Newfoundland's northeast coast, after they found it washed up on the beach, choking on a large piece of moose hide, which was lodged in its mouth.
One of the men, Derrick Chaulk, has described the incident, explaining that he was driving by the harbor in Norris Arm North on Saturday when he noticed what he initially thought was a beached whale.
He went closer to investigate, and then realized that it was in fact a shark, approximately 2.5 meters long, weighing around 115 kg.
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The shark was still alive, but had a huge chunk of moose hide stuck in its mouth.
Chaulk has said, "It [the moose] had the fur and all the liner on it — it was about two feet long, maybe."
Another man, Jeremy Ball also quickly arrived on the scene, and together they started pulling at the moose hide in the shark's mouth, trying to dislodge it.
"A couple yanks and it just came right out."
Once they managed to free the moose, they then worked together to drag the shark back into the water.
One man tied a rope around the shark's tail, while the other stood at the other end getting ready to push.
Chaulk said, "He pulled the rope, and I pushed with my boot, and between the two of us we got him out into deeper water."
Once in the water, the men have described that the shark remained in the water at about 30 cm depth for a few minutes without being able to swim off. However, once it had re-orientated itself and started breathing strongly again it moved off.
"All of a sudden, the water started coming out of his gills and he started breathing,"
It is believed that some locals clean and gut moose on a nearby bank, and when they are done they throw the scraps into the harbor.
Chaulk has reflected: "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."
"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."
