Fishermen help injured shark at Herzliya beach
Marine animal had hook caught in its mouth, was helped back to deeper waters; officials say close encounter not unusual for time of year
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A group of fishermen at a Herzliya beach were surprised to spot a shark swimming near the shore Friday, and captured the unusually close encounter with the marine animal on camera.
The Shortfin Mako — a species which has been known to attack humans on rare occasions — was injured and apparently exhausted after chomping on a fishing hook.
Lifeguards caught the shark, removed the hook from its mouth and then ushered it back to deeper waters, Ynet reported Saturday.
Chairman of Herlizya’s Tourism Development Corporation Jonathan Yakobovich noted that the Shortfin Mako has attacked swimmers in other parts of the Mediterranean.
“The danger always exists, the sea is home to many animals, including sharks,” he said.
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Yigal Ben-Ari, the director of Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) Central District told the news website the sighting was not unusual for this time of year.
“When the ocean cools, its quite common for sharks to swim closer to shore. They are usually not dangerous, most commonly we see either the Sandbar or Dusky sharks, both of which are native to the Mediterranean and occasionally come close to our beaches,” he said.
Ben-Ari also reminded the public that sharks are a protected species and that fishing, harming or feeding them was illegal under Israeli law.
On Thursday, sharks spotted cruising through the water off the coast of Hadera prompted the INPA to issue a warning to curious divers to stay away from the area.
The statement said the sharks could be looking to relax in warm waters expelled by a local power station.
Throughout the winter months, groups of sharks are drawn to the shallows opposite the Orot Rabin electric plant, which are kept warm by heated water released into the sea from the generators’ cooling system.
The sharks are an attraction to local divers, who organize group dives to observe and photograph the visitors.
However, the INPA cautioned that debris, including discarded fishing wire, fishing hooks, turbulent waters and strong currents, all pose a threat to divers.
Sharks attacks are almost unheard of off the coast of Israel, although in September 2013 a diver at a fish farm off the coast of Ashdod nearly lost his hand after being bitten by a shark.
In April 2012 two amateur fishermen accidentally caught a 2-meter-long shark in Ashdod, and in 2005 sharks were captured in the area on two separate occasions.
Stuart Winer contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.