Beachgoers' 'brave' act after confronting discovery on Perth beach

A group of beachgoers who rescued a two-metre-long shark at a Western Australian beach on Monday have been praised by social media users for their bravery.

While shark welfare has historically been a hard sell, many species are now threatened with extinction and public perception appears to be shifting.

In video posted to Reddit, five men can be seen trying to help a beached juvenile longfin mako shark back into deeper water at Quinns Rocks, an outer suburb of Perth.

Commenting beneath the post, the videographer said action was urgently taken because they feared the shark would die if they waited for authorities to arrive.

Social media users have been quick to applaud the group’s efforts to help the shark.

“This is what being human is about,” wrote one person.

“Amazing job to those who helped this lovely mako,” another person added

While the group’s efforts are believed to have been successful on this occasion, one expert is warning people without the “proper training and experience” to think twice before offering help to a shark.

Animals in distress can “easily lash out defensively” and cause “serious injury”, according to Australian Marine Conservation Society marine biologist Dr Leonardo Guida.

Ever wondered why sharks beach themselves?

The shark’s distress is clear in an earlier video posted to the social media platform showing a beachgoer contemplating whether to help the shark.

Snagged in the shallows, it can be seen thrashing its tail against the slow moving ocean current.

After three to four attempts to drag the shark back out to sea, it eventually swam into deeper water, according to the account holder who posted the footage.

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Dr Guida said it’s unclear why sharks beach themselves, but injury and disease are two possibilities.

“It's also possible juvenile sharks are chasing prey or escaping from a larger shark and through inexperience get themselves into trouble,” he said.

“Based on the footage, this looks like a juvenile longfin mako shark.

“Makos are rarely spotted close to shore and usually hang out on continental shelves in the open ocean.”

Perception of sharks on social media revealed

Interest in sharks on social media spiked earlier this year after a rare fatal attack at a Sydney beach, according to media analysis from Meltwater.

Looking at data from January to April, there are still many negative words used when speaking about sharks online.

Common phrases include "dead bodies", "dead cows" and "genuinely dangerous", or relate to people being money sharks.

Despite some ongoing fear about the animals, many emojis associated with posts about them appear quite positive.

Fish, dolphins and even blue love hearts are commonly posted alongside mentions of sharks.

Meltwater's enterprise solutions director Georgina Bitcon told Yahoo News Australia perception of sharks has been changing, but a fatal attack this year was cause for concern amongst social media users.

"We've seen sharks slowly rebuilding their reputation as a natural part of our local ecosystem through online activism, but our social media insights have revealed a slight setback in this progress," she said.

"It is no surprise that the shark attack off the coast of Sydney's eastern beaches in February spurred a 500% increase in negative social media content from users across the nation talking about sharks.

"In the wake of the incident, more than 3000 Australians online referred to sharks as "genuinely dangerous" and #auspol has been trending in online discussions of the need for control measures."

Call to better protect Aussie sharks amid steep decline

Longfin mako are “comparatively rarer” than shortfin mako and need greater protection, Dr Guido argues.

“In Australian waters, currently they can be retained in commercial fisheries if they're landed dead, and recreational fisheries can still target them,” he said.

“We don't know much about the Australian population trend, but globally they're endangered, having declined by around 50 per cent in just the last 72 years.

“Solutions in Australian waters include full protection of the species, protection of their critical habitats from fishing (particularly tuna longline fishing), and improving handling practices so those that are accidentally caught have the greatest chance of survival when they're released.”

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