Australian divers, vet save choking shark in daring rescue

The shark's laboured breathing let marine experts know it was going to die.

A team of divers and a veterinarian from SeaLifeMarine off Magic Point, near Sydney, Australia, made a "first-of-its-kind rescue" last week to save the grey nurse shark being choked to death by an elastic cord wrapped around its gills.

"When you’re dealing with a wild animal like this anything can happen," Rob Townsend of SeaLife sanctuary and aquarium told 7News Sydney. "Their teeth are always on display and they are very sharp."

The divers had to coax the shark into a clear shark sock, then manhandle the distressed shark into a stretcher that would lift him to the surface.

At the surface, while the divers held the shark steady, veterinarian Rob Jones cut off the noose-like cord and gave the shark a shot of antibiotics to prevent the wound, which experts believe will fully heal within a month or so, from becoming infected.

"If we hadn’t intervened, I have no doubt it would have died, the elastic would have kept cutting deeper and deeper into the neck," Jones told 7News Sydney.

Grey nurse sharks are critically endangered — threatened primarily by beach nets, fishing and pollution — with only about 1,500 of them left off the Australian coast.

A petition site is collecting notes to "send love" to the team that saved the injured shark.

"What a great story, brilliant! These sharks clearly need every bit of help that can be offered. These divers are awesome!" wrote one fan of the daring rescue.