Brave Diver Rescues Shark From Netting: Caught on Camera

A scuba diving instructor in Byron Bay, Australia, put his safety on the line when he rescued a grey nurse shark from a fishing net near Julian Rocks on Aug. 16.

In a video that captured the rescue, diver Inaki Aizpun can be seen swimming after the shark several times, trying to remove the large piece of netting caught in its mouth. At times, the shark also appears to struggle to free itself from the net.

The shark faced a slow and painful death if the net remained caught in its mouth, according to Azipun.

After successfully freeing the shark of the deadly encumberance, he is seen celebrating underwater.

Aizpun said he felt it was his duty to help the creature and that he hoped the video would create awareness of the dangers of fishing nets, Storyful reported.

Every year, at least 640,000 tonnes of abandoned fishing gear is lost or discarded in the world’s oceans, according to estimates cited by World Animal Protection.

Abandoned fishing gear makes up at least a whopping 46 percent of waste of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP)—the largest accumulation of ocean plastics on the planet, out of five plastic accumulation zones in the world—according to a Nature study published March 2018.

“Lost and abandoned fishing gear, or ghost gear, kills, injures and mutilates huge numbers of animals, including some of our most iconic species such as turtles, whales, sea lions and dolphins,” Ingrid Giskes from World Animal Protection said in an online video. “It is estimated that ghost gear has caused a 10 percent decline in fish stocks globally.”

“By preventing ghost gear from entering our oceans, we can also protect industry and communities that depend on our oceans for their livelihood,” she added.