‘A kick in the guts for volunteers’: Shark head impaled on fence

A GRISLY sight confronted volunteer workers at a Marine Rescue base at the weekend. WARNING: Graphic images.

WARNING: Graphic images

A BLOODY shark’s head has been found impaled on the fence of a Marine Rescue NSW base.

The volunteer-run organisation posted the grisly images online showing the fish head, believed to be that of a mako shark, spiked on the fence of their Shellharbour base on Saturday morning.

“It’s a kick in the guts for our committed volunteers who give up their time to save lives on the water,” the organisation wrote on Facebook on Monday.

The shark’s head appears to have cigarette butts and debris packed into its mouth.

Volunteers and residents reacted with shock and disgust.

The shark’s head impaled on the fence of a Marine Rescue NSW base in Shellharbour. Picture: AAP Image/Supplied by Marine Rescue NSW

“As a Marine member myself this is terribly disrespectful,” one said.

“Someone with a macabre sense of humour,” another added.

There was no message with the large shark head so it was difficult to determine if it was meant as a threat, or just a joke in very poor taste, Marine Rescue spokesman Richard O’Conner told ABC.

“It’s a random thing, there was no message and we haven’t had any issues in the past with disgruntled fishermen or boaters, but that’s not to say that somebody may not be happy with what we have done,” he said.

He said it looked as if the shark, believed to be a mako shark, was cut up at the jetty across the road from the Marine Rescue building on Saturday night.

The shark head appeared to have had debris packed din its mouth. Picture: Facebook: Marine Rescue Shellharbour