In Finn Holland’s 11 years living on the Bay of Fundy coastline in Maces Bay, N.B., he has seen seals, various seabirds and even a whale carcass on the shore. But until Saturday afternoon, the 15-year-old hadn’t seen or heard about sharks in the area. “I was playing my guitar in my room, and my mom came in,” Holland says. “She’s like, ‘Finn, I was informed that there was a shark on the beach.’ Then I was like, well, we got to go down.” Holland, along with his mother Jill Holland and other family members, quickly made their way down to the beach where he could see something flopping around in the distance. Once he got a little closer, he realized it was a porbeagle shark that was still clinging to life nearly 30 feet from the shore. The teenager quickly determined the best way to get the shark back to the water would be by dragging him. “I flipped him over from his back to his stomach, and I grabbed his tail slowly with subtle touch and pulled him, dragged him into the water,” says Holland, noting the shark was probably more than 100 pounds and was around two metres long. After muscling the fish back into the water, the shark slowly regained strength before swimming back out into the bay. “I felt like I did the right thing and it feels good,” says Holland, who admits the support he has received online has been overwhelming. “I don’t take pride in myself a lot, but I’m proud that I did this.” The pride is shared by Finn’s mother Jill, who isn’t the least bit surprised to see her son step up to help an animal in need. She admits when they first came across the shark her initial instinct was to let “nature take its course” and leave it alone. “I was terrified,” Jill says, having some knowledge about shark behaviors as a biologist. “He grabbed onto the tail slowly, but I was like that thing can whip around and get you at any time. I was convinced we were going to go to the hospital that night, but we’re very lucky we didn’t have to. “I was very proud. If I’m being honest, it’s a very Finn thing to do. I wasn’t surprised at all that he took it on himself.” ‘It’s a lovely story’ Marine Animal Response Society co-executive director Tonya Wimmer says any time someone steps up to save a beach marine animal, especially someone who is one 15 years old, is quite astonishing. “To care that much and obviously refuse to sort of simply walk by and see an animal that is suffering in that way is really quite wonderful,” says Wimmer. “It’s a lovely story in terms of people really wanting to help.” While Wimmer says Holland’s efforts to save the shark should be praised, she also warns it can be a very dangerous situation given the unpredictably the large fish can show when feeling stressed. As for the porbeagle shark itself, Wimmer isn’t certain what brought it into the more shallow waters along shore when the species tends to enjoy the deep parts of the Bay of Fundy. She notes the species is also declining in the numbers, and there is a lot about porbeagle sharks experts still don’t know. “When we do get sharks that have unfortunately passed, we do try to get them to study them so that we can get more information,” says Wimmer. “Not only about what may be harming or may have caused their death but also support research projects for folks that are looking into some of these bigger, broader questions.” She advises anyone in the Maritimes who comes across a large marine animal stranded on a beach to contact them at 1-866-567-6277. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
