MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. (WSVN) — Deputies came to the rescue of a shark was found tangled in a trap off the coast of Manatee County. For first responders with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit, being prepared is a key part of the job. “There’s a lot of things that go into be ing a marine unit deputy. It’s not just saving people, it’s looking for wildlife in distress, it’s looking for derelict vessels, at-risk vessels,” said Manatee County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Bobby French. On Friday, MCSO Deputies Eddie Hernandez and Alan Judy were patrolling the beach line. “We got almost to Manatee Beach, and I saw the dorsal of the shark above,” said Judy. “It was kind of odd; you don’t see it that often.” “It’s not normal to see a shark close to shore near a crab trap buoy,” said Hernandez. “We were curious that maybe he was hunting fish. We went back to see.” When the deputies circled back, they found that the shark was stuck in the crab trap with fishing line coming from its lower jaw. “You could see the line going to the crab trap buoy, so we know, obviously, it was tangled up, because when we got closer, it went down, and the ball of the dot went down,” said Judy. The two deputies contemplated how they could help the marine predator. “It was kind of funny, because at first, my partner said, ‘Why don’t you cut him free?’ And I said, ‘No, that thing has got too much teeth.’ Too many teeth for me to go stick my hand down there,” said Judy. After coming to the realization that it would be too risky to put their own hands down the shark’s mouth, they called experts with Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium. “It was a good feeling to have Mote get there and get him up to the boat,” said Judy. “He actually had three or four other hooks that they had to get out of him.” Wildlife officials were able to remove the hooks from the 6-to-8 foot sandbar shark. They sent off the shark with cheers. “It felt really good to watch the shark swim away,” said Judy. “After thinking about it later on, we thought, if we weren’t there, he probably would have died,” said Hernandez. “He looked tired, because he kept coming up and going back down. How long he was there, we have no idea.” Experts advise fishermen who hook a shark to quickly cut the line as close as possible to the hook quickly, adding the shark should not be taken out of the water. ...read more read less