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Pool shark: rescued great white nicknamed 'Fluffy' to be released into ocean Pool shark: rescued great white nicknamed 'Fluffy' released into ocean
(about 11 hours later)
An injured juvenile great white shark found washed up on a Sydney beach is expected to be returned to the ocean after spending the night in an aquarium. A juvenile great white shark found washed up on Sydney’s popular Manly beach has returned to the ocean, with experts optimistic about his survival.
The 1.5m-long shark, nicknamed “Fluffy”, was found thrashing around on the shore of Manly beach about midday on Monday, prompting some onlookers to unsuccessfully drag it back out to sea. The 1.8-metre-long shark, nicknamed “Fluffy”, was found thrashing around on the shore on Monday and taken to a nearby ocean pool to rest, before spending the night at Manly Sea Life Sanctuary aquarium.
The shark, which appeared to have some superficial injuries, was later taken to the nearby Fairy Bower ocean pool so it could rest for a few hours under the gaze of stunned beachgoers. Experts determined the best course of action was to take him out into deeper waters so the animal didn’t become stranded again.
Marine experts then transferred the shark on a stretcher in a ute to Manly Sea Life Sanctuary so it could be monitored in an isolation tank overnight. The shark was released from a boat four kilometres off Sydney about 2.30pm on Tuesday.
The sanctuary’s senior aquarist, Robbie McCracken, said the shark was doing well. The sanctuary’s life sciences manager, Rob Townsend, said it was unusual to see sharks wash up because they’re strong swimmers.
“He has had a chance to rest and recoup and hopefully we will be able to he release him a bit later today,” he told the Nine Network. “We have been involved in dozens of rescues over the years but this one was certainly unique,” he said.
On Tuesday morning the sanctuary was waiting for the all-clear from New South Wales Fisheries to take the shark back out to sea for release. “It was truly a privilege to work with this species and it is always great to be able to release an animal like this back to the wild and to see the amount of public support he had.”
“This animal is better suited to recovery out in its environment,” McCracken said. “We are hoping that it sort of mistakenly found its way into an area it didn’t intend to be and got a bit tired and exhausted and then stressed with the waves and all the people around it. The rescue mission was tricky at times because the creatures don’t do well in enclosed areas.
“Hopefully when we let it back out quite a ways offshore in much deeper water it will be able to recover.” “We had lots of divers in the tank last night making sure he didn’t bump into the walls,” Townsend said on Tuesday.
McCracken said it was a mystery why the shark tried to beach itself. Experts say they have “high hopes” for the animal’s survival.
“These great white sharks usually are animals that would tend to be offshore a bit, out in the deeper more unrestricted waters,’ he said. “From the condition he was first found in, flopping around on the rocks, to even just a few hours later to see how well he was swimming in the tank - it’s an indication whatever it was that caused him to end up on the rocks is something he can deal with,” Townsend said.
“This one for whatever reason found its way up into the beaches of Manly and then into the surf zone where it came into a bit of grief. That is where we were able to step in and sort of intervene.” It remains a mystery as to why Fluffy tried to beach himself, but Townsend was able to shed some light on how the shark got its unusual nickname.
“It was something I just kind of said off the top of my head to some kids at the pool and too many people heard it,” he laughed. “But we have to combat the bad image of sharks.”