Durban — uShaka Sea World staff were called to rescue two Zambezi sharks from the Durban Harbour dry dock on Sunday.
Ann Kunz, of the South African Association for Marine Biological Research, said that Transnet staff noticed a Zambezi shark trapped in the dry dock and immediately stopped pumping out the water to drain the dock.
Kunz said that uShaka Sea World lead aquarist Rob Kyle went to the dry dock to assess the situation and noticed that two male Zambezi sharks were trapped inside.
Kunz said a rescue team was assembled, including uShaka Sea World, Netcare 911 and Transnet staff, and a decision was made to drain the water to immobilise the sharks.
Kyle said they remained out of the water until the level was shallow enough to render the sharks motionless.
“We then cautiously slid the stretcher underneath one shark and securely contained it to prevent it from sliding out when it was being lifted out of the dry dock. Once the shark was lowered on to the topside of the dock, the uShaka Sea World veterinarian gave it a health check before it was measured and tagged,” Kyle said.
“The shark, a male, measured 220cm which means it weighed just shy of 200kg.”
Kyle said the shark was carried a short distance to the edge of the quay where it was released back into the harbour.
He said the process was repeated for the second shark, which measured 155cm.
Kyle said the sharks had superficial abrasions and scuff marks on their bodies from rubbing on the bottom of the dock and bumping into the supports that are used to hold the ships upright. It is expected that the sharks will make a full recovery.
Kunz said uShaka Sea World thanked Netcare 911 and the Transnet staff.
Transnet had not commented by the time of publication.
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