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Stranded shark on New River Beach (Aug. 2026) IMAGE: Piper Holland with permission<\/p>\nWhat started as an ordinary day playing guitar quickly turned into a once-in-a-lifetime experience for 15-year-old Finn Holland.<\/p>\n
The Maces Bay teen has received a lot of praise after helping to guide a stranded porbeagle shark back to the waters off New River Beach, near his home.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom came in and informed me that our neighbour told us that there was allegedly a shark on the beach,\u201d Holland said.<\/p>\n
Living just steps from the shoreline, the family didn\u2019t waste any time heading down to investigate.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went down there as quickly as we could,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
What they found there, was something Holland never expected to see.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw that there was actually a shark.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stranded shark on New River Beach (Aug. 2026) IMAGE: Piper Holland with permission<\/p>\n
It was later identified as a porbeagle shark, and it appeared to be in serious trouble.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw it in the distance. We went straight up to it,\u201d Holland recalled. \u201cIt looked almost dead, like on the brink of death.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wanting to see whether the shark was still alive, Holland approached it carefully.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to see if it was alright, and I gave it a touch, and it moved a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the shark began moving and flopping around, Holland knew he had to act.<\/p>\n
He slowly grabbed the shark by its tail fin and dragged it back toward the water.<\/p>\n
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Stranded shark on New River Beach (Aug. 2026) IMAGE: Piper Holland with permission<\/p>\n
\u201cI helped it guide itself to swim off and get back to ocean business,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The urgency shown by Holland has generated a lot of attention. They Mayor of Fundy Shores, Denny Cogswell, recognized Holland on social media, \u201cA huge thank you to Finn for his determination and for helping return this shark safely to the water. What a great example of a young person stepping up to help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holland told our newsroom that it feels pretty good to have helped a living thing, \u201cI\u2019m proud of myself,\u201d he said. \u201cI did the right thing.\u201d He added that he didn\u2019t focus on the potential risks; he just thought about trying to save the shark.<\/p>\n
The fact that his name is Finn has also sparked plenty of comments online, and the incident will always stand out. \u201cDefinitely. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever see a shark again,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is like a rare, rare, once-in-a-lifetime thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Stranded shark on New River Beach (Aug. 2026) IMAGE: Piper Holland with permission<\/p>\n
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Tara Clow is a multi-award-winning news anchor and reporter with more than 30 years of experience at radio stations across Canada. She is a graduate of the Radio and TV Arts program at Toronto Metropolitan University and the Humber College radio broadcasting program. She is based in Moncton and covers stories across Canada. Contact Tara at clow.tara@radioabl.ca.<\/p>\n