Reef shark rescued from Singapore oil refinery
- The 1.3-metre blacktip reef shark was stuck in a seawater intake bay at the facility for two days before being rescued. Its snout was badly injured
- Shell plc said it would be taking action ‘to enhance preventive measures’ at its seawater intake areas. A sea turtle got stuck in the same bay in 2017
The 1.3-metre adult blacktip reef shark was spotted swimming in the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park’s seawater intake bay on June 13.
It was stuck in the bay, which measures three metres by five metres, for two days before being retrieved and released by local animal welfare group the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres).
A four-person rescue team took half an hour to extricate the shark, which is believed to have entered the bay through a hole in its steel perimeter. The animal’s sensitive snout was badly injured, possibly from hitting against the sides of the intake area.
Acres volunteer Gabriel Cai used a six-metre-long telescopic pole attached to a two-metre-wide net to scoop the shark out of the well.
“I was trawling the net blindly through the water, until I felt resistance and the water started splashing,” Cai, an engineer by trade, told This Week in Asia.
