Sandbar Shark found tangled in crab trap off Bradenton Beach by Manatee County marine deputies

Deputies save shark tangled in crab trap buoy line

From water rescues to helping animals in distress, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office's marine unit is ready and prepared to answer any and all calls. But, Friday brought them a unique situation. FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon reports. 

BRADENTON BEACH, Fla. - From water rescues to helping animals in distress, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office's marine unit is ready and prepared to answer any and all calls. But, Friday brought them a unique situation. 

While out on patrol, they discovered a shark tangled up in a crab trap, and Manatee County deputies acted quickly to get the shark the help it needed. 

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The backstory:

"There's a lot of things that go into being a marine unit deputy. It’s not just saving people. It’s looking for wildlife in distress, it’s looking for derelict vessels, at risk vessels and anything that has to do with the water," said MCSO Sgt. Bobby French. 

On Friday, MCSO Deputies Eddie Hernandez and Alan Judy had just gone through the pass and were patrolling the beach line at Bradenton Beach. 

"We got almost to Manatee Beach, and I saw the dorsal of the shark above. It was odd. You don’t see it that often," said Judy. 

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"It's not normal to see a shark close to shore near a crab trap buoy. We were curious if he was hunting fish, we went back to see," Hernandez said. 

When they circled back, they found the shark was stuck in the crab trap, and fishing line was coming from its lower jaw. 

"You could see the line going to the crab trap buoy. We know, obviously, it was tangled up, because when we got closer it went down and the ball of the dot went down," said Judy. 

They thought about what to do. 

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"It was funny. At first, my partner said, ‘why don’t you cut him free,’ and I said ‘no, that thing has got too much teeth, too many teeth for me to go stick my hand down there,’" said Judy. 

After realizing it would be a bit risky to put their own hands down the shark's mouth, they knew who to call: The experts at Mote Marine Laboratory. 

What they're saying:

"It was a good feeling to have Mote get there and get him up to the boat. He actually had three or four other hooks that they had to get out of him," said Judy. 

Mote was able to get the hooks out of the shark, and it was identified as a six to eight foot Sandbar shark. 

"It felt really good to watch the shark swim away," said Judy. 

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They sent the shark off with a cheer. 

"After thinking about it later on, if we weren’t there he probably would have died. He looked tired because he kept coming up and going back down. How long he was there, we don’t know," said Deputy Hernandez. 

What you can do:

Experts said if you do hook a shark, they recommend cutting the leader as close as you can to the hook and as quickly as you can. They said the shark should not be taken out of the water. 

It's also best not to use stainless steel hooks, they take longer to corrode and can remain in a shark or other marine animal for a long period of time. 

To report a marine animal like a shark in trouble, you can call the FWC Wildlife Alert at (888)-404-3922 or Mote Marine's Stranding Investigation line at: 888-345-2335.