How man saved a pregnant shark from Cronulla’s Oak Park rock pool
IT’S THE SHARK WRANGLER 2.0! See the amazing moment a man hauls a pregnant shark out of a popular Sydney rock pool.
St George Shire Standard
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There is a new Shark Wrangler in town after a man bravely rescued a pregnant shark from a popular rock pool in Sydney’s south.
Ben Denning had ducked out for a paddleboard from Darook Park to Oak Park at South Cronulla while his baby was napping when he saw the commotion at the Oak Park rock pool.
“They were getting pretty excited, they were like ‘there’s a shark in the pool’,” Mr Denning said.
“I looked at my mate and we thought, oh, let’s do it – we grabbed it and pulled it out.”
The pregnant Port Jackson shark swam lazy loops around the pool before Mr Denning and his mates borrowed a pair of goggles and fished her out.
“I’ve never handled a shark before, it was a bit of excitement,” Mr Denning said.
“Everyone was pretty pumped, some of the ladies got a bit emotional because the shark was pregnant and getting in a bit of a panic.”
The Shark Wrangler 2.0 is not the first of his kind, following in the noble footsteps of the original Shark Wrangler, Cronulla real estate agent Melissa Hatheier.
Ms Hatheier went viral in 2017 when, clad in a red swimsuit and goggles during her morning swim, she also hauled a Port Jackson shark out of the Oak Park rock pool.
Ms Hatheier was racing back from Narrabeen to help with the second shark yesterday before Mr Denning stepped up to the plate.
“The original Shark Wrangler’s sister was there with a pair of goggles, she was swimming around and she saw it so she called her sister,” Mr Denning said.
“She was racing back to get it out but I asked to borrow the goggles – I thought, I can’t let the Shark Wrangler take all the glory.”
The shark was safely set free back into the ocean to the applause of the families gathered around the pool.
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