Caught on Camera: Deputies free shark in crab trap

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WWSB) - After rescuing sea turtles earlier this week, Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputies freed a shark Friday caught in a crab trap in Tampa Bay.

In a video posted on sheriff’s office Twitter feed, Marine Unit deputies say they were flagged down by a citizen reporting a shark caught on a crab trap. Deputies are seen and heard trying to extricate a six-foot-long shark hooked on the trap’s buoy.

“Move, move, move,” the deputy said. “It’s taking me .... Go backwards, backwards, backwards!”

After deputies decided they could not safely remove the hook, they cut as far down as possible, allowing the shark to live another day.

“That’s at least ... That’s 6-foot,” a deputy says.

“Bye Bud,” one deputy said as the shark swam away.