Fishermen at Fish Hoek Beach were in for quite a surprise when they checked their haul for the day! A shark was ensnared in their trek net alongside the other fish. A struggle ensued to release the marine mammal back into the water.
A trek net is a large fishing net, that is weighted at one end and fitted with floats at the other so that it hangs in the water vertically. It is usually dropped from a boat to capture fish and hauled in from the shore.
On Wednesday [December 9], a shark accidentally got caught in the trek net of a group of fishermen. The crew then came together to help return the shark to the sea.
In a video shared to the Fish Hoek Beach Facebook page, nervous locals, rapt with excitement, gather around the net and look on as the shark writhes while the fishermen struggle to set it free.
After a drawn-out tussle, the fishermen manage to pull the shark from the net and release it into the ocean, where it swam away to safety.
Watch the tense moment here: