A juvenile great white shark has been rescued after washing up on Manly Beach in Sydney’s north.
The poor little thing washed up mid-morning on Monday with apparent injuries to its lower mouth, prompting beachgoers to call in the team at Manly Sea Life Sanctuary after a number of unsuccessful attempts to help the shark back into the water.
A team of six professionals used a stretcher to move the one-and-a-half metre animal to the nearby Fairy Bower Pool.
The shark was then removed from the area on Monday night and taken to the sanctuary on the back of a ute.
“The poor shark was quite confused and kept bumping his nose into the walls of the Fairy Bower pool,” local resident and witness Toby Molineaux told Now To Love.
He added: “The aquarium staff spent hours looking after him and making sure he didn’t keep hitting himself before transporting him in a truck to the Manly Aquarium around the corner.”
The shark quickly became a star attraction as locals and tourists alike flocked to catch a glimpse of the stunning animal.
Speaking with news.com.au, Rob Townsend, life sciences manager at Manly Sealife Sanctuary, said the pool acted as a “good place” to leave the injured animal while a game-plan was established.
“The immediate course of action was to see if it was strong enough to swim away. A couple of attempts were made to put it back in the ocean but it kept washing up on the beach. Apparently it washed up four or five times,” Mr Townsend said.
“Obviously a shark of this size and species, it’s not something we can immediately deal with without a bit of preparation time, to see what we’re dealing with.”
“Having put it in the pool, we’ve realised it’s not a mako, it’s a juvenile white shark, so being a threatened species there’s a whole lot more bureaucracy and paperwork to make sure we’re doing everything by the book.”
Dependant on the shark’s condition, it’s expected he/she will be released back into the wild today.
