Two men save shark choking on a moose

"A couple of yanks and it just came right out," says rescuer who came to the aid of a choking shark

Two Canadian men saved a shark that was choking on a large piece of moose hide.

Derrick Chaulk was driving along Norris Arm North harbour, located on Newfoundland’s northeast coast, when he spotted something that he thought was a beached whale.

On closer inspection it turned out to be an 8ft-long Greenland shark struggling to swallow the moose meat – fur included.

Chaulk told CBC News: “He [the shark] swallowed and got it halfway down and couldn’t cough it back up… and then I think the tide brought him in.”

A second man, Jeremy Ball, stopped to join in the rescue attempt and together they managed to remove the 2ft piece of meat by pulling it out of the shark’s mouth.

“A couple yanks and it just came right out,” said Ball.

The two men then tied a rope to the shark and one pulled while the other pushed until the shark was in shallow water where he lay for a few minutes.

“All of a sudden, the water started coming out of his gills and he started breathing,” said Chaulk.

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

Greenland sharks are found in cold waters of the North Atlantic and can grow up to 20ft in length.

While they are predominantly scavengers with a diet of fish and smaller sea mammals, pieces of polar bear, horse and even an entire reindeer with full antlers have been found in their stomachs.

Photo by Justin Lindsay