Greenland shark rescue: Men in Newfoundland save shark from choking on moose hide

NORRIS ARM NORTH, Newfoundland, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- A man who helped save a Greenland shark from choking on a chunk of moose hide in Newfoundland said it was "a good feeling" to save the shark's life.

Derrick Chaulk told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. he was driving Saturday near the Norris Arm North harbor, along the northeast coast of Newfoundland, when he saw what he took for a beached whale. It turned out to be a Greenland shark -- rarely seen in that area -- and it was choking on a hunk of moose hide about 2 feet long, with "the fur and all the liner on it."

Chaulk said local resident Jeremy Ball pitched in, and the two men started pulling on the moose hide, which came out after "a couple yanks."

He said Ball tied a line around the shark's tail, and he pushed while Ball pulled the shark -- estimated at about 8 feet long, and about 250 pounds -- into about a foot of water, where the shark eventually began breathing again.

The shark lingered for about a half hour before swimming out to sea.

"There was a few people up on the bank watching and once that shark swam out and lifted his tail, and then swam all the way out, everybody just clapped," he said. "It was a good feeling to see that shark swim out, knowing that you saved his life."

Chaulk told the CBC people sometimes throw scraps into the harbor after cleaning and gutting moose.