Veterinarian reaches into shark's throat to remove hook it swallowed
Filed under: Scuba Diving, Australia  It's good to know people don't always torture sharks and sharks don't always torture people. Sometimes, we even help each other out.
David Blyde, a veterinarian in Australia, was willing to plunge his arm up to his shoulder into the throat of a 10-foot nurse shark to save the animal after it swallowed a large hook. It was stuck in the animal's digestive tract, leaving a long metal handle sticking from its mouth, AP reports.
The gray nurse shark is apparently one of Australia's most endangered marine species because it was fished to near-extinction, with some estimates running as low a fewer than 300 animals left in the wild in waters off Australia's east coast.
I wrote about nurse sharks just last week. In Belize, you can swim with them and pet them. The Australian grey nurse shark is a little different than the kind they have in Belize. Still, it is generally much smaller than the more aggressive great white. It is also not considered a threat to humans, but its bite could still do serious damage.
The "hooked shark" was spotted by divers on Monday as it swam with a group of others near Byron Bay, 500 miles north of Sydney. After the animal was captured and placed in a holding tank, rescuers pushed a stiff plastic pipe into the shark's throat. Blyde then reach down through the pipe to free the hook.
Blyde told reporters that "as a veterinarian you often end up putting your hands in places that people find somewhat unattractive."
I think I could think of several different professions with the same problem. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments  |
Gadling Take Five: Week of July 12 - July 18
 It's been a very revealing week here at Gadling. Travel is all about discovery, so even though you might lose a sock or misplace a family pet every once in awhile, consider that it's all part of the experience of travel. Wondering what Gadling uncovered in our travels this week? Read on, dear reader, read on.
- Earlier this week, Gadling revealed two new bloggers, Josh Lew and Scott Carmichael. Welcome guys! Make sure to check out their first posts.
- Grant has been following the story of a dog that was lost recently at Washington's Dulles airport. Sadly the animal still hasn't been found, but our fingers are crossed that his whereabouts will be revealed soon.
- Heather revealed a sore airline nerve when it comes to passengers and storing their carry-on bags in the overhead bins. Her post generated more than 500 comments!
- Meanwhile, Jerry had a revealing discussion with Mr. Bizarre Foods himself, Andrew Zimmern. Apparently even Zimmern has his limits when it comes to eating weird foods - check out the interview to see what made him crack.
- Iva has been traveling around Belize. Belize is one of the world's great hotspots for diving enthusiasts, and Iva revealed the secrets of diving in the Great Blue Hole. Sounds like quite an awesome experience.
And perhaps most revealing of all, Jeff pointed out that in Greece some British tourists are probably revealing a little more skin than necessary. Let's keep it clean, OK people? Hope you had a great week! Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments  |
Postcard of the Week: In Love in Lisbon
Filed under: Postcard of the Week
Instead of spotlighting an image from the Gadling Flickr pool on Fridays, we're going to highlight one from the pool of contributors' submissions (including you!) from Everywhere's Photos. Today's image is from contributor Rachel Tavel. She writes,
"Nothing says 'Europe' like two people who can't keep their hands off each other in public. This couple could barely walk, they were so intent on sucking face. Having arrived in Lisbon only an hour or two earlier, I was quickly reminded that I was there. Ahhh, to be young and in love in Lisbon..." If you'd like to submit an image to be considered for Gadling+Everywhere's Postcard of the Week, please sign up for a free membership on Everywhere and start uploading! Every Friday, we'll choose one to spotlight. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments  |
Snakes in a hotel room!
Filed under: Hotels and Accommodations  A maid at the Hy-Way Motel near Fairfax City, Virginia, got quite a surprise recently when she discovered that several duffel bags that had been left in one of the motel's rooms were full of exotic snakes.
Twelve of the 17 snakes found were venomous; two had died, giving off an odor that attracted the maid's attention.
The Washington Post is reporting that the snakes belong to a man from Arlington County, Virginia, who was known to keep more than 100 exotic snakes in his home, but had been recently ordered by county authorities to remove them by the beginning of the month.
The man had apparently rented the Hy-Way Motel room for an entire week just to store some of his snakes there.
The man was not present when the snakes were discovered.
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Statistics for pets lost, injured or dead while in an airline's care
Filed under: Stories, Airlines, Transportation, Airports, News  I've never put an animal in an airline's care before, but I have friends who have. Friends of ours shipped their dogs to and from Singapore. One person took a parrot and another shipped two cats. All went well in these instances.
The situation where the dog was lost by United Airlines this past week is not common, I would guess, otherwise it wouldn't have made it to the national news. Grant gave a Gadling heads up, and this article on ABCNews this past Monday outlines more specifics about the unfortunate situation when Jeddah, the beloved dog of John and Ronia Weisner went missing at Dulles International Airport after only an hour in the airline's care.
If you are wondering what the statistics are for problems when shipping pets, and the airlines involved with the mishaps, check out this PDF file to Air Travel and Consumer Report published by the Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings: Aviation Consumer Protection Division.
May 2008 was just posted this month. On page 38, you'll find the recent stats for pet troubles. Here's the summary:
No animals were lost in May.
Two were injured. (Alaska-1; Skywest-1)
Four died. (Continnental- 3; United-1)
The chart doesn't list the specifics of the incidents, but you can click on the airline name in the chart in order to get the report summaries.
In the Weisner's case, I can't imagine what it must be like to have such a significant change already in ones life such as a move to Saudi Arabia for a year only to have it start out with a missing dog.
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