The Dorsal Fin

Grootbos Nature Reserve recently posted the above video to its YouTube Channel which documents the rescue of a 4-5m whale shark (Rhincodon typus) which had become stranded on the shore at Pearly Beach near Gansbaai, South Africa.

According to the video information, a “group of locals” gathered to assist the beached whale shark. The rescue effort took eight hours and involved the use of a boat to tow the shark out to sea. Additionally, multiple doses of antibiotics were administered to the whale shark. After being towed out to sea, the shark eventually swam away on its own, according to the video.

While the long-term fate of the shark is unclear from the video, the effort of those involved in the attempt to rescue the shark are worth commending.

According to West Palm Beach, Florida’s WPTV.com, a Florida teen was bitten by a bull shark on Friday while spear-fishing in the Bahamas. Derek Mitchell was spear-fishing off Spanish Cay with his father and some neighbors. One of the other spear-fishermen had speared a fish, which they believe attracted the shark’s attention. The bull shark approached Mitchell but initially turned away, before returning and biting his lower leg, puncturing his Achilles tendon. Mitchell was rushed to a local hospital and later flown to St. Mary’s Hospital in West Palm Beach for surgery. Mitchell is expected to recover from the attack, according to the report.

In other shark attack news from the weekend, New Orlean’s The Times-Picayune article, Coast Guard medevacs man bitten by shark in Breton Sound, reports that, on Saturday morning, a fisherman was bitten in the leg by a shark. The victim was fishing about 65 miles southeast of New Orleans, in Breton Sound. The victim was airlifted from the scene by a Coast Guard MH-65C dolphin rescue helicopter and taken to New Orleans, where he was transported to University Hospital. The victim, from Mississippi, had not been identified, and the report listed his condition as unknown.

The Coast Guard has posted this video footage of the rescue.

Update (08/03/2009): WWL.com is reporting that the victim of the shark attack in Louisiana is 62-year old Chris Haynes. Haynes was bitten as he was wading in the water, while fishing in Breton Sound. According to Coast Guard Lt. John Egan, the shark “took off about half of his foot.” Egan also said that Haynes is “doing okay” and was to undergo surgery today (08/03) “to help fix up his foot and his leg.”

Here’s to hoping for a speedy recovery for both Haynes and Mitchell.

Apparently, people being naked does. According to a St. Petersburg Times story a woman had to be rescued from the water and a man came ashore, both au natural, at Fort De Soto.

A statement from the park supervisor about the couple being “lucky, considering the number of bull sharks in the area because of tarpon season,” goes almost completely unnoticed do to the focus of the article on the couple’s nakedness. According to the individuals involved, the woman fell overboard from a boat and the man jumped into save her. They told the authorities they took their clothes off, so that they could swim.

For the record, despite being a shark diving enthusiast, I do not recommend skinny-dipping with bull sharks at night.