When a 15-year-old in New Brunswick located a shark on the shore near his home, he knew he had to help.
Finn Holland said his family learned of the beached shark from a neighbour and then travelled down to the edge of Maces Bay on the west coast of the Bay of Fundy, about 48 kilometres southwest of Saint John.
“It was essentially dying and I thought to myself, ‘If I don’t do something, it’s going to die,'” the teen said in an interview with Global News. “I kind of acted on my own against my mom’s will to drag this shark back into the water and then guide it to release him back into the ocean.”
Holland said he initially didn’t have intentions to save it, but when he got up close, he said he noticed it had scratches and scars possibly from being stuck by the rocks on the beach.
The shark was on its back when he and his family arrived, so Holland started thinking of how to get it back to the ocean.
“I was, in my head, thinking of how I’m going to get him back in the water before I even told anyone I was going to do it,” he said. “Then I rolled him over onto his stomach and then I slowly touched his tail fin to see that he wouldn’t react at all. He was just way too tired and way too weak from thrashing and flopping around on the beach.”
The teen then started to slowly pull the shark by its tail about six metres into the water and tried to guide it into the ocean. He estimates it took about 10 minutes before the shark got its strength back to start swimming.
Get breaking National news
The St. Lawrence Shark Observatory confirmed to Global News that based on available images, the animal was a porbeagle shark. It says this type of shark is a native cold-water species commonly found in Atlantic Canadian waters, including the Bay of Fundy.
“Under the circumstances, the young man did the right thing by returning the shark to the water, thereby giving it its best chance of survival,” Jeffrey Gallant, scientific director, said in an email.
Though it swam away, Gallant cautioned that action should not be seen as confirmation it survived. He said stranded sharks are often severely stressed, ill, injured, or otherwise psychologically compromised.
The teen has received a lot of praise from the community for his actions, including from Fundy Shores Mayor Denny Cogswell, who posted about it on Facebook.
“A huge thank you to Finn for his determination and for helping return this shark safely to the water,” Cogswell wrote. “What a great example of a young person stepping up to help.”
For Holland, the encounter was “crazy,” but he’s glad he helped it.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.