What would you do if you if a shark approached you while diving? Well, if you’re a seasoned diver, you’ll follow protocol by keeping your distance from it and not provoke it.
But what if it follows you again? To make matters more complicated, what if the shark starts bumping its head on you?
Fortunately, most of us won’t have to find out what happens in a situation like this. But diver Josh Eccles is one of the few exceptions.
In a video posted on Facebook, we see Eccles have an unexpected yet heartwarming encounter with a lemon shark while on a diving excursion.
Asking for help
Eccles was just on a routine dive with other divers off Jupiter, Florida, basking at the beauty of the underwater world when he noticed a lemon shark getting unusually close to them.
Not minding the shark too much at first, since it was not unusual for them to occasionally approach divers, Eccles followed precaution and kept his distance from the lemon shark.
However, the lemon shark kept on following him. What more, it also kept bumping Eccles deliberately.
This may cause panic to newbie divers but Eccles, knowing from experience that this was unusual behavior for lemon sharks, decided to check the sea creature for what might be causing its distress.
After all, lemon sharks are known for being aloof around humans.
And lo and behold, he found a large hook hanging out of the poor lemon shark’s belly!
All this time it was trying to get the diver’s attention to get some help.
Risky move
Despite threats to his safety, Eccles decided to help the shark by trying to remove the hook that was hurting it.
Holding the shark’s head with one hand, he tried to get the hook out of its belly a few times.
And after a few more nudges, he was able to take it out fully.
“Every time it swam by me, it would bump into me a little more. They always bump into us, but they don’t bump into us that frequently. That was a crazy opportunity, experience to be a part of.”
– Eccles in an interview with WFLA.
The right decision
In the end, Eccles made the right decision by trusting his instincts and saving the shark.
After removing the hook, Eccles and the other divers were treated to a view of a couple of lemon sharks swimming around Eccles, perhaps as a sign of thanks for his act of kindness towards their friend.
Not an isolated case
Unfortunately, this lemon shark is not the only sea creature that suffers from swimming around the sea with hooks attached.
This may be the result of the harmful practice of shark fishing done by deep sea fishermen.
While some sharks are lucky to escape capture, some escape with the fishermen’s’ hooks still in their bodies with no way to get them out.
Still, Eccles risky act of kindness is very admirable.
It shows that in some situations humans and wild animals really can coexist and get along without threatening each other’s existence.
Watch the entire footage of the heartwarming encounter below.
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