A 100-pound pitbull reportedly fought a shark that had sunk its teeth into the dog’s owner in northern California bay.
Muscle-bound sportsman James White says he has his dog Darby to thank for pulling a sevengill shark off of him during a fishing accident last month, according to NBC News in San Francisco.
White, who has photos to make his case, claimed he was fishing in Sonoma County’s Bodega Bay when he snagged a 6-foot long shark that kept coming inland. After a 10-minute struggle, White said he dragged the fish ashore and pulled the hook from its mouth. However, the shark got loose and fell on the beach, grabbing the fisherman’s ankle in its mouth.
According to White, the shark sunk its teeth into an artery and there was blood everywhere. He yelled for help, but the other fishermen on the bay were nowhere near him.
“The pressure was intense,” he told NBC.
That’s when Darby — who was inside White’s car on a nearby hill — came to the rescue. The dog reportedly found its way out of the automobile, charged toward the water and sunk its teeth into the gills of the shark that was biting White. But according to White, the harder Darby bit the shark, the tighter the shark’s grip got on his bleeding leg.
“I told him, ‘No back off’ and then (Darby) re-positioned and grabbed it by the tail,” White said. “He literally ran up the hill with it and pulled it off my leg.”
White said he retrieved the shark, which was still alive and returned it to the bay, where it swam away. White will never know what might have happened if his loyal companion hadn’t fought off the apex predator.
“If it wasn’t for him, I would have been a lot worse,” he said.
Sevengill sharks can weigh up to 230 lbs. and reach nearly 10-feet in length, according to marinebio.org. The marine biology site describes the shark’s teeth as “wide, large and comb-shaped in their lower jaws, which they use to tear and cut into prey.” It also says, “The teeth in their upper jaws are sharp and jagged which they use to hold onto prey.”
