Pregnant tiger shark off North Stradbroke Island rescued and released

A monster pregnant tiger shark that was caught in drumlines off North Stradbroke Island has been rescued and released back to sea after washing up barely alive on the beach.

• Qld’s most dangerous shark beaches

A monster pregnant tiger shark that was caught in drumlines off North Stradbroke Island has been rescued and released back to sea after washing up barely alive on the beach.

The 4m shark washed ashore on Main Beach on Friday morning after apparently biting through the steel drumline.

Local lifeguard and life-long Straddie resident Ash Jenner, who raced down to the beach after seeing the commotion on the sand, said it was the biggest shark he had seen in more than 20 years on the island.

Mr Jenner said the shark gave birth to two babies on the shore as members of the public watched on.

A monster pregnant tiger shark was caught in drumlines off North Stradbroke Island.

“We had a similar sized tiger shark two summers ago but this one was definitely bigger and fatter - it’s the biggest one I’ve seen for sure,” he said.

“You see a few sharks on Straddie but nothing that big or dangerous. The babies were really lively too.”

Mr Jenner said local wildlife rescuer Pauly Debono cut the drumline hook from the shark’s jaws and he and Mr Jenner and his fellow lifeguard brother Zane pushed it out to sea.

“The thing weighed about 500-600kg and there was a fair bit of swell so it was pretty tough going,” Ash said.

“As we tried to drag it back out to sea, another baby popped out. The mum kind of came back to life and we got out of there - we weren’t going to hang around.”

Mr Jenner said rangers were releasing the baby sharks off another beach.

“The shark looked like it had plenty more pups to give birth to so hopefully it survives,” he said.

“It’s a big and dangerous animal but you definitely don’t want to see it die like that.”

Originally published as Pregnant tiger shark off North Stradbroke Island rescued and released