AN animal welfare group is calling for the public's help to track down an injured shark off the Port Stephens coastline.
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Sea Shelter, a group that rescues sea creatures and carries out ocean conservation, has been tipped off to an incident near Fingal Point on Saturday where a 2.5 metre long grey nurse shark was speared by a fisherman and was last seen dragging the spear with the attached orange buoy.
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"We were contacted by a bystander who saw it happen," Lia Pereira from Sea Shelter said.
"We understand the fisherman had been scared by the shark which started coming after him while he was carrying around a bag of fish. He has got a fright and reacted.
"We just want to find the shark and help it."
The group is calling for drone users, boaties and people walking around the coastal area to keep an eye out for the shark or the buoy and to drop a pin location using the GPS on their phone. Then pass these details on to Irukandji Shark & Ray Encounters on 0249822476 and press option one for Sea Shelter.
"We don't know the level of the injury, so until we see it we won't know if it is superficial," she said.
"Grey nurse sharks are a protected species. This injury would be impairing the shark's ability to dive down and to hunt. It will certainly die without help."
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Jessica Brown
Jessica began her journalism career in 2009 as a cadet at The Port Stephens Examiner before moving to London for a two-year stint working in magazines and digital publishing. The Lake Macquarie local returned to Australia where she took up a reporting role at The Maitland Mercury. She worked across several rounds including local council, police and property before moving into digital journalism and joining the team at The Newcastle Herald in 2017.
Jessica began her journalism career in 2009 as a cadet at The Port Stephens Examiner before moving to London for a two-year stint working in magazines and digital publishing. The Lake Macquarie local returned to Australia where she took up a reporting role at The Maitland Mercury. She worked across several rounds including local council, police and property before moving into digital journalism and joining the team at The Newcastle Herald in 2017.
