On Monday, a Connecticut couple’s scuba diving excursion in Rhode Island became a quest to save a newborn shark.
Deb Dauphinais, of Glastonbury, Connecticut, and her husband Steve Dauphinais were scuba diving on the sand flats off Jamestown, Rhode Island, when Deb noticed a 16-inch juvenile shark with its head wedged inside a work glove at the bottom of around 35 feet of water.
The shark appeared to be dead, according to diving instructor Deb Dauphinais, but when it stirred she signaled for her husband to assist.
“He came over and did his own little double-take,” she remarked.
According to her, her husband pulled on the glove, which appeared to be stuck to the shark’s head but ultimately came loose.
Although they were cautious in case the shark, which appeared to be a young dogfish shark, snapped at them, Deb Dauphinais stated they were not worried about being bitten by it.
It appeared uninjured, sort of gazed at both of us, regained equilibrium, and then swam off to where it belonged, according to her.
This is not the first time Deb Dauphinais, an instructor for about 30 years, has rescued a sea animal, according to her. She recalled releasing a black sea bass that was hooked on a discarded fishing line a few years back.
“Underwater sea trash has killed numerous underwater marine animals, according to numerous reports,” she stated. “It’s a problem that keeps coming up and is really important to me. However, these are the only instances in which I have been successful in doing so with anything—at least a shark.