People enjoying the beach in Pensacola, Florida, on Thursday came upon a distressed shark that needed help getting back into the ocean.
The beachgoers decided to try and pull the creature, identified as a mako shark, back into the water as it lay stranded on the sand, Fox 35 reported Sunday.
Video footage shows three men grabbing onto the creature’s tail fin in an effort to get it back into the water. However, the shark begins thrashing and the group backs up to stay at a safe distance.
“Babe, look at them freaking teeth!” a woman behind the camera says before zooming in on the shark’s jaws.
The group makes another attempt to help the shark but it begins thrashing again, clearly distressed, as the crowd watches.
On the group’s third attempt, they are finally able to drag the shark off the beach and into the ocean, where lies motionless for a moment. One man even flips the shark over and holds onto its tail to help it right itself.
Some bystanders speculate the shark is dead, but moments later it swims away from the group and the relieved crowd cheers.
According to Oceana, the shortfin mako shark is “the fastest shark and is one of the fastest fishes on the planet. This species’ athleticism is not restricted to its swimming speeds.”
The sharks can also jump extremely high when they are hunting, the site reads:
Shortfin mako sharks are known to be highly migratory, with individuals making long migrations every year. Like the true tunas, the great white shark, and some other fishes, the shortfin mako shark has a specialized blood vessel structure – called a countercurrent exchanger – that allows them to maintain a body temperature that is higher than the surrounding water. This adaptation provides them with a major advantage when hunting in cold water by allowing them to move more quickly and intelligently. This species feeds on a variety of prey.
Video footage shows a Mako Shark launching into the air, according to a Discovery video from 2015.
“Y’all really be prepared at all times for one to jump in the boat,” one of the men in the clip later tells the others:
The team eventually gets close enough to tag the creature in order to track its speed and acceleration for a 24-hour period.