A woman walking her dogs on the beach near Portland, Oregon, found a small shark struggling in a tide pool.
MANZANITA, Clock. — A woman was walking her dogs on a beach in Oregon when she saw a small shark struggling.
It was a good time for salmon sharkwhich was suffocating in the low tide zone close to the coastline.
“I was nervous about touching him at all,” Colleen Dunn wrote in a text message Wednesday. “I have three children, so I didn’t want to put myself in a dangerous position.”
At first she thought it was a large white cub.
Dunn called her husband at the Nehalem Bay State Park office for advice but received no answer. So, while her dogs waited patiently, she grabbed the 3ft (1m) shark by the tail and tossed it into deeper water, filming it on her phone.
The shark was able to push water through its gills again and then swam out of sight.
Dunn says she posted about the encounter last month on a local social media group and no one reported the shark washing back onto shore. She previously lived in Hawaii and recently moved her family to Manzanita, Oregon, near the park where she saw the shark. She says the ocean and the creatures that live in it give her a sense of belonging.
“I've lived in other places throughout the Pacific Ocean and the ocean has always been my anchor. Being involved with it, watching the tides, observing wildlife and even stepping in when a creature needs help keeps me present and humble,” Dunn said.
