A grey nurse shark that underwent delicate surgery to remove a large metal spike protruding from its side has been released back into the Gold Coast waterways.

A team of divers spotted the shark off Point Lookout and alerted Sea World's veterinary team to the animal's condition.

Sea World's Director of Marine Sciences Trevor Long coordinated the rescue effort and said initially they thought the animal had been deliberately speared with a "homemade bait spike".

"But in actual fact it looks like the shark wasn't speared at all ... someone probably been chasing fish or crayfish and skewered one and the shark has taken it, and in doing so swallowed the long metal skewer," Mr Long said.

"The skewer entered the animal's gut, but then came out through the stomach the shark's side ... it was never going to survive long term."

The task of removing the shark from the water proved to be an operation in itself.

Mr Long said in order to safely remove the shark from the water, they had to take the unusual measure of forcing it to burp.

"We used a rope lasso and we dived down around 25 to 28 metres of water ... we lassoed the shark being very careful and very delicate about it," he said.

"When you're catching these sharks it's quite a sensitive situation. They actually ingest air into their stomachs and use that to control their buoyancy, so when you bring them up...you've actually got to make them belch that air, otherwise they can rupture and damage their internal organs."

Sea World seeing lots of grey nurse sharks with injuries

The shark underwent an operation at Sea World's veterinary surgery to remove the bait spike.

Mr Long said while the shark ingesting the spike appeared to be unintentional, it highlighted the effects of fishing operations on marine life.

"Unfortunately what happens under the water is out of sight, out of mind," he said.

"And if you don't see it, there's no emotional connection to it ... up at the seaway, there's lots of fishing line where animals are becoming entangled.

"It's like a spider web down there."

The grey nurse is a critically endangered species of shark, and Mr Long said they were seeing lots of them inflicted with wounds.

"Because people fish over the areas where they reside and they'll catch a fish and the grey nurse shark will then take the fish and then swallow the hooks ... and these are critically endangered animals," he said.

"There's probably only 1,500 to 2,000 left on the east Coast of Australia and that's quite a serious issue."