A dog that catches sharks? Yep - there was once a Labrador Retriever that caught juvenile Black-tipped Reef Sharks (the adults of this species are pictured above).Photo by Scott Michael.
Labrador retrievers are well known for their love of aquatic environments. They are also blessed with the will and ability to retrieve. But there are some Labs that excel above and beyond what is normal for the breed! I recently received a from a friend of mine, Larry Jackson, and was amazing and amused to see a happy Lab chasing and finally pulling a huge trout from the stream. This was a trout that any angler would kill to to mount on their mantle piece. (See the video below!)
This is not the only fish-catching Labrador. In the 1980's, on Canton Island (a small island in the Phoenix Group north of Samoa), there was a Black Lab named Blackie that was adept at catching Black-tipped Reef Sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) - that's right, the dog caught sharks! The young of this tropical shark aggregate in the shallows to avoid their larger cousins (who will eat them) and to find food. They are sometimes seen in water so shallow that their backs break the water's surface. These sharks (which measured between 1.5 to 2 feet long) proved too tempting a target for Blackie, who thought chasing and catching sharks was great sport! He was so good at it, he was employed by a public aquarium that was visiting Canton to capture sharks for their exhibit (Blackie had such a "soft mouth" that he did not harm them when he grasped them in his jaws and brought them to the beach). In an hours time, Blackie was reported to capture as many as eight juvenile Black-tipped Reef Sharks. The reward for his services? His favorite treat, ice-cubes!
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