Los Angeles angler put his hands in an 8-foot shark's mouth to remove hook, then sent it back to sea

A fisherman stunned onlookers on a Los Angeles-area beach when he seemingly calmly reached into the mouth of an 8-foot shark to remove a hook and then dragged the creature back into the Pacific. 

What happened?

Witnesses filmed the encounter on Sunset Point Beach, ABC News reported. 

In the clip, a shark can be seen flailing on sand before the fisherman walked up, pulled the hook out of the shark's mouth, and then returned the shark to its home.  

The scene unfolded amid California dealing with the highest shark numbers in a decade, according to The Guardian.  

Why does it matter?

Researchers say juvenile great whites have been appearing in higher-than-usual numbers along the coast of Southern California. 

"We're already seeing a high number of white sharks," Dr. Chris Lowe, the director of the Shark Lab at California State University Long Beach, told The Guardian. "We started seeing baby white sharks in February, which we've never seen before. Usually that happens in April."

El Niño, a climate pattern caused by increased sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, is likely the cause. El Niño can lead to heatwaves, droughts, and heavy rainfall, and forecasters in Australia have warned that this year could be one of the strongest ones in decades, Reuters reported. 

While El Niño is not caused by humans, human-caused global warming does intensify El Niño's global impacts, according to the United Nations Institute for Environment and Human Security. 

What can I do?

The California State University Long Beach Shark Lab advises that, if you're visiting beaches where sharks are known to gather, stay alert, follow lifeguard warnings, and avoid murky water or areas where people are actively fishing. Keeping your distance from wildlife on shore is also important, both for personal safety and for the animal's chances of recovery.

Communities can also help by supporting beach safety education and research that tracks shark movements near popular shorelines. Those monitoring efforts can give the public better information about where juvenile sharks are gathering and why.

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