At the Shakawe River Lodge in Botswana on the 24th of December, a group of us holiday goers hopped on a 6-seater boat to try our hand at tiger fishing. We were using lures on our rods to try attract the toothy fish. They are notoriously tricky to catch and put up a fight, jumping out the river when they hook your line. On this day we had caught no fish and were heading back to camp defeated. Derek Edwards was trying his hand one last time by “trawling” his line behind the boat when we noticed a fish eagle circling the lure which had caught its attention. Sensing a potential case of mistaken identity, my uncle started reeling in his line, which only seemed to excite the eagle even more. Before we could completely reel the line in, the eagle circled and swooped down on the lure, grabbing it in its huge talons. With that, the line of the fishing rod whirled and whizzed away as the eagle clutched the lure – he was caught! Imagine our horror as we realised we had snagged one of Africa’s most majestic birds of prey! We had to free him and quick!

Our first concern was that he would be stuck in the water and risk drowning, especially as he tired with the shock of not being able to fly away. Our boat driver and guide explained he had never heard of a fish eagle caught in a line before, egrets yes, but never a fish eagle! He advised us to try keep the bird in the water as he would struggle less and may be easier to free. I then picked up my camera and started recording as we navigated the boat as quickly as possible back to the bird.
What follows is our unexperienced rescue.