Australian Man Pulls Shark From The Water With His Bare Hands
An Australian man has been filmed landing a shark without the benefit of a rod and reel, pulling the predator from the surf with nothing but his bare hands.
Video of the unusual catch was uploaded to YouTube last week, according to the Daily Mail, after it was filmed at an estuary in Mackay in central Queensland. The short clip depicts a small shark, measuring between three and four-feet-long, as it swims in shallow water, its dorsal fin breaking the surface. As the video progresses, the man behind the camera tells his friend, identified only as “Beery” to “See if you can get” the shark.
One of the men then enters the water, pursuing the shark from behind. Once he is close enough, he grabs the shark’s tail, lifting the predator from the water as it struggles. Nearly dropping the animal, he presents it to the camera gleefully before returning it to the water so it can swim away.
Man plucks a shark from the water with his bare hands – VIDEO – http://t.co/dwslnvLkad pic.twitter.com/P3MRCwPwOv
— enikos_en (@enikos_en) April 30, 2015
Though impressive, the video is reminiscent of another incident that took place last year in Florida. As the Huffington Post notes, that clip was filmed in Palm Beach County, and depicted an angler who managed to hook a shark and bring it into the shallows. Once the predator was in reach, another man dove into the surf, grabbing the shark with his bare hands and hoisting it out of the water for all to see. Though the end of the interaction wasn’t filmed, witnesses reported that the fisherman unhooked the shark and released it back into the ocean.
Meanwhile, in Florida… A man grabs a shark with his bare hands, bloody stupid if you ask me! http://t.co/cZFXPDO8yI pic.twitter.com/hSgzoBJR0p
— Owen Chapple (@owen_chapple) October 6, 2014
Last year, video of another Australian man harassing a tiger shark garnered strong criticism worldwide. As the Inquisitr previously reported, the unidentified young man was goaded by his friends, who inspired him to jump off the side of their boat and on top of a tiger shark that was swimming nearby. Video of another man repeating the same stunt with a hammerhead shark emerged weeks later, prompting West Australians for Shark Conservation spokesman Ross Weir to assert that a culture exists among young Australian men that encourages them to harass dangerous wildlife for attention.
While the shark handler in Mackay wasn’t injured while engaging with the animal, Weir noted last year that sharks are predatory animals, perfectly capable of injuring anyone who harasses them in Australia or elsewhere.
[Image: YouTube via the Daily Mail]
