Aboard Solmar V, Isla de Guadalupe, Mexico - It was another beautiful, sunny day at the island. The clear, crystal blue ocean provided divers over 150 fsw visibility. A white shark slowly approached the surface, leveled off and swam directly underneath our feet on the swim-step. The shark was in trouble. Something was wrapped around the shark’s back, just forward of the dorsal fin near the gills. Lawrence Groth, owner and operator of Great White Adventures, suited up quickly and got in the cage for a closer look. The shark was just passing in front of the cage as he entered it. When Groth surfaced, he said that a plastic strap was caught around the shark. It looked like it was on the shark for some time and started to cause big problems for the animal. Groth identified the shark as a male, approximately five years old and eight to nine feet in length. The shark had grown since the strap was caught on it. It had dug into the flesh around the head and gill area, like a hangman’s noose. The band grew tighter as the shark grew. Eventually, it would strangle to death. Groth decided to make a bold move. He planned to swim out of the cage after the shark and cut the strap off. This was extremely risky and other large white sharks swam around the boat at that moment. Groth was determined to do the right thing; save the shark. He went to work on his rescue kit. Groth attached a Dive Rite Z-knife to the wooden handle of a deck brush. He would use this line-cutter to snag the band around the shark and cut it off, without any injury to the animal. Any other knife could cut the shark and would not grab the band securely. He donned his rig, cranked open his cylinder and descended into the water between the two stern cages on the boat. The cages were about four feet apart and allowed Groth some protection to his left and right sides but nothing from the back, front, or below. Three adult white sharks circled the boat. It did not take long before he had his first opportunity. The shark swam in from the stern about 15 feet in front of Groth. Once the shark turned away he took off after him. Groth swam within inches of the shark’s right side, but just as he went for the strap the shark realized he was there and bolted away. His caudal fin smacked Groth right in the chest and abdomen nearly knocking the wind out of him. Groth slowly returned to the swim platform and exited the water. He waited patiently in his gear for Bandit to come back. It wasn’t a long wait. Groth swam down and away from the cages. He disappeared deep below the cages and was gone. Someone yelled that another shark was coming in from the stern and then another shark was spotted… Where was Groth?! No one could see him from topside. At that moment Bandit swam by, freed from his band. Everyone on deck cheered Groth’s success. His plan had worked perfectly. The band was removed with no harm to the shark, and Groth returned safely. Bandit had a chance to live a long and happy life thanks to the big heart and courage of Captain Lawrence Groth. - by Melanie Paul Warning: file_get_contents(http://www.aboutmytalk.com/getcommenthtml.php?defaultforum=34&text=Click+here+for+the+Story+from+AboutMyTravel.Com&subject=Travel+Story%3A+Diver%27s+Courage+Saves+Bandit%2C+the+Great+White+Shark&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aboutmytravel.com%2Fmain.php3%3Faction%3Ddisplayarticle%26artid%3D839) [function.file-get-contents]: failed to open stream: HTTP request failed! HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden in /home/aboutmyt/public_html/codebase/articleclass.php3 on line 264 Related Articles: No Articles Found Articles by the same contributor: |
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