SYDNEY, Australia - A veterinarian in Australia plunged his arm up to his shoulder into the throat of a rare shark to save the animal after it swallowed a grappling hook.

David Blyde reached between the jaws of the 10-foot (3-meter) gray nurse shark to dislodge the hook, which was stuck in the animal's digestive tract, leaving a long metal handle sticking from its mouth.

Divers spotted the shark Monday as it swam with a group of others near Byron Bay, 500 miles (800 kilometers) north of Sydney, Trevor Long of the Sea World marine park said Friday.

Rescuers from the park lassoed it with a noose to capture it and lifted it into a holding tank. They rolled its onto its back before pushing a stiff plastic pipe into the shark's throat over the hook's handle.

Blyde then reach down through the pipe, which protected his arm from the shark's teeth as he freed the hook.

"As a veterinarian you often end up putting your hands in places that people find somewhat unattractive," Blyde told Seven Network television.

The delicate operation took about 45 minutes, and the shark was expected to fully recover, Long said.

"There was only a couple of times when the shark became feisty and David had to get his hand out _ quickly," he told Seven.

The gray nurse shark is one of Australia's most endangered marine species after being fished to near-extinction, with some estimates running as low a fewer than 300 animals left in the wild in waters off the country's east coast.

They live mostly in shallow coastal waters near reefs or rocky caves, feeding in fish and rays and growing up to 13 feet (4 meters) long. They are not considered a threat to people.