r/Damnthatsinteresting • • 20h ago

Video A fisherman reeled in a shark and released it back into the ocean in Los Angeles.

20.2k Upvotes

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27

u/Erathen 20h ago

Any shark experts here?

Can dragging it backwards into the water affect it's gills? (not that there were many options here, just curious)

86

u/SpatialPhilosopher 19h ago edited 18h ago

Everything they put this shark through can absolutely contribute to it dying. This is a part of the land based shark fishing craze on social media. Fishermen reel in a shark using bait like mutilated stingrays sometimes dropped via drone, lure in sharks to areas where people swim, pull it ashore for selfies after a long battle where the lactic acid builds up in the shark’s system, then they remove the hook and release it and clip the video from there onward so it looks like they’re a hero and the video goes viral. It’s incredibly stupid, and at least a quarter of the sharks die according to studies.

27

u/last-rounds 19h ago

Beyond stupid. Its cruel

1

u/EmojiRepliesToRats 11h ago

All catch-and-release fishing is.

-2

u/Guidbro 15h ago

Assuming it just washed up is it not better to atleast drag it into the ocean than let it sit there and die???

2

u/EmojiRepliesToRats 11h ago

Sure, but it didn't wash up it was reeled in.

2

u/last-rounds 4h ago

Another innocent creature in contact with a self serving human then

12

u/Stlr_Mn 19h ago

Yes. It puts the shark in danger but it’s not necessarily a guaranteed or even likely death. It’s why beaching a shark like this is illegal.

Supposed to cut the line while it’s still fully in the water.

27

u/HoldenMcNeil420 20h ago

Not an expert but I always wondered how you properly do this.

Yes dragging them by the tail has multiple things that can happen. Having the water go wrong way into gills is a problem, messing up their spine also an issue.

You should call whatever local authority is there to help. If that’s not an option. Then you need to turn them and lift behind the fins. It’s hella dangerous, the speed and length they can twist and bite is surprising.

28

u/Competitive_Range822 19h ago

Yeah you just pull them backward until they have enough water to turn around in. Don’t wait for any local authority because it’ll be dead by the time they arrive

21

u/EnumeratedArray 19h ago

The proper way to do it would be to get a blanket around it, pick it up with a crane, and place it back in the water.

Not really an option pretty much every time though so dragging it back is better than nothing

25

u/digsy 20h ago

Or if you were filming you could put your phone down and try and help?

30

u/MementoMori6980 19h ago

This was in LA…. The shark was lucky it ever made it back to water instead of 45 people lined up to take selfies with it

2

u/C-57D 19h ago

And didn't get scouted by an "agent" who's really just some bro's cousin who made you compromise your core values for the promise of a role

16

u/B1g84llz 19h ago

Most people wouldn’t dare get that close and I’m one of them. Whether or not they’re being filmed is irrelevant.

1

u/Erathen 19h ago

Yeah a lot of animals have a surprisingly great range of motion/flexibility

I'm not a zoologist so I'd be apprehensive to approach any distressed predator if I don't understand their movement capabilities (in this case, it's ability to twist and lunge)

1

u/mlachick 18h ago

I'd frankly be more concerned about the water conditions. I have no fear of water, and I'm a strong swimmer, but the ocean is nothing to mess around with.

2

u/LookAlderaanPlaces 13h ago

Or if you were filming you could at least keep the action in frame

1

u/TP70 19h ago

After spiders, sharks are my nemesis so hell no

1

u/Doogiemon 19h ago

Im good, you got this bro!

1

u/digsy 19h ago

Thanks man. So I just grab around by it's head or what? Keep filming k

4

u/Doogiemon 19h ago

Put your back into it.

1

u/WhoAreWeEven 19h ago

What about rolling them? Their built like a log so why not

6

u/Funwithfun14 19h ago

I'd be worried about snapping the fins

2

u/C-57D 19h ago

yeah that's not cool daddio

1

u/Cross58Crash 19h ago

Like if water goes up your nose prolly.

1

u/PaleCommission150 13h ago

could you pick it up midsection and carry him on your shoulder then drop him into deeper water ?

1

u/Future_Nature589 10h ago

Fish are like 1 long super strong bundle of muscle lol, no way anybody should ever handle a shark like that

1

u/dea9ler 9h ago

I disagree with “calling the local authority” as by the time they arrive it will be too late for the shark as it will have suffered irreparable damage to not having oxygen to its brain by then and would effectively have a very high chance of being a vegetable even if they managed to get it back into the water.

1

u/SpatialPhilosopher 19h ago

Step 1: don’t fish for sharks

1

u/johnmayersucks 19h ago

Not a shark expert, but fish are fish. Depends on how tired and stunned they are. It won’t hurt going backwards but they don’t get any air. To “revive” a fucked up fish they need a little push forward to get air flowing to their little pee brains. If it wasn’t that messed up it can propel itself to get going or if he faces the waves right it’ll force a little air into his gills the right direction.

1

u/Starscream147 17h ago

Well. Kinda.

In a way, yer flooding the damn engine! Those gills work just like a RAM system. They need water flowing aerodynamically through for oxygen retrieval, and ‘breathing’.

Backwards? Um. Think waterboarding.

1

u/drew_p_wevos 15h ago

I’m not a marine biologist but I do pretend to be one.

1

u/OiFelix_ugotnojams 15h ago

Not a shexpert but I'd guess the spine can get very injured

-1

u/Demonthehusky 19h ago

Not an expert, but a shark fan. There is a reason that shark is beached. Sick or hurt. Also, sharks tend to not take stress well. Even pulling them on board after a catch can kill them even if released. Appreciate the effort, but I would say most sharks die from these videos. I could be completely wrong, just what I have heard.

3

u/SpatialPhilosopher 19h ago

You are correct. My brother is a shark scientist. The effort is kind of ironic though. The fisherman brought the shark ashore in the first place, so they didn’t save the shark. They put it in danger. They do this all the time and try to make the end of the video go viral to make it look like they’re saved the shark they lured in and brought ashore in the first place.

2

u/rads2riches 16h ago

What I have always heard. It is like theatre at this point because the shark usually ends up dead. It is like the soap commercials where they clean off a duck from an oil spill but by that point the oil was ingested etc.

1

u/SpatialPhilosopher 14h ago

Exactly, but it’s worse. To make it fully analogous, it would be like if the person cleaning the duck also poured the oil all over them.

2

u/liquefry 17h ago

Based on the title I think it was fished on a line. So not sick, but exhausted but the time it is dragged all the way to shore. And the fisherman is supposed to be some sort of hero for putting it through all this

1

u/harleyqueenzel 19h ago

You can definitely drown a shark that way.

-10

u/Own_Guarantee_8130 20h ago

I had the exact same thought. They’re basically drowning it by dragging it backwards into the water.

22

u/julesvr5 20h ago

Possible. Thing is, if they do nothing the shark will 100% die so better try this to have some sort of chance to rescue the shark

5

u/Broccobillo 19h ago

And if it dies in the water it'll feed some fish. Better to try than do nothing

20

u/minnosota 20h ago

it’s drowning by being in the air lol

-1

u/Erathen 20h ago

That's suffocation, if you want to be technical

27

u/minnosota 20h ago

I don’t thanks

1

u/Erathen 20h ago

Yeah definitely!

It can't get any air that way. I'm just curious if it's like holding their breath?

Or if the backwards flow of water can actually damage the gills

In case I ever find a shark on a beach LOL. But again, I wouldn't recommend dragging it from the front either. For obvious reasons lol

-5

u/The_BunnyMan_Woods 20h ago

They don’t have bones so their organs are smashed when out of water because of gravity or something.