A fisherman performed an emergency c-section on a dead shark he accidentally caught and released 98 pups into the wild.
Mathew Orlov, 46, hooked a sevengill shark off the coast of Barwon Heads in Victoria, Australia. He said the shark had been attacked by another shark and died before he pulled her up, but noticed the stomach of the animal was moving.
“I could feel through the line when she was being attacked. As soon as we pulled it up I knew was mauled by another shark,” Orlov told Independent.
“When I saw the belly moving, instinct kicked in. I’ve never done anything like this before, but I’ve fishing long enough to know we needed to get the pups out as quickly as possible.
It was a very overwhelming feeling when they started popping out, I got this adrenaline rush. I was just dumbfounded there was so many, we counted 98.”
Sevengill sharks live for around 30 years and give birth to large litters of between 80 and 95 pups. Shark pups are born independent of their mother, once born they are on their own.
“As a fisherman, I catch fish to eat. I love the ocean and respect they’re an important part of the ecosystem.
I think the pups chance of survival are high – they swam off quite healthily.”
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