An Australian father was caught on camera fighting off a huge shark and returning it to the ocean after his children mistakenly caught it.
Tristan Turner said his two sons caught the bronze whaler while fishing off the American River jetty on Kangaroo Island in South Australia during the Easter holidays.
To free the shark from the fishing line, Turner bravely grabbed it by the tail and carried it to a boat ramp, where he removed the hook from its mouth.
“We needed to get the hook out and release it, so I swam it up to the boat ramp from the rocks, took the hook out and swam it back up,” he said.
In the video, Mr Turner is seen holding the shark by the tail on a boat ramp as it struggled violently.
“People who know me know that I love the water and I do some pretty things,” Turner said.
Turner managed to drag the shark back into the water and his next move surprised onlookers.
Still holding the shark, Turner went underwater with the shark and escorted it back to deeper water.
This sparked laughter and applause from the gathered crowd.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to swim with one and I got the chance when I let it go, hung onto its fin and went for a walk,” Turner said.
Turner and the shark survived the incident unharmed.
He said his son was horrified when he swam away with the shark.
“They’re a pretty friendly species of shark,” Turner said.
Rescuing the shark was quite a day’s work for Mr Turner.
“People who know me know that I love water and I do some pretty things,” he said.
He said before dealing with sharks, he dealt with crocodiles on his partner’s property in the Northern Territory for seven years.
“My dad thought I would never come back from there, he definitely thought they would eat me,” Turner said.
Bronze whale sharks can grow up to 3.5 m and weigh 300 kg and live up to 32 years.
It is a coastal shark typically found in the waters of the southern continental shelf of Australia.
Bronze whalers are a very active predator and feed on various prey including fish, squid and crustaceans.
They are not considered dangerous and are not known to attack people without provocation.
Most close encounters with a bronze whaler shark are harmless.
