“Jaws” is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, but beachgoers in Pensacola, Florida, got their own real-life creature feature. When a massive Mako shark washed ashore, good Samaritans jumped into action. However, saving the shark proved to be more challenging than they anticipated. Harrowing footage captured not only the shark’s rescuers, but the reason these animals are so feared.
Mako sharks are behemoths in the water and can grow up to a whopping 13 feet long. This one got stranded on a Pensacola beach and is probably not too far off from that measurement. Several people jumped into action to drag the shark back to safety, but it wasn’t going without a fight. As the shark thrashes, one woman can be heard saying, “Babe, it’s too dangerous! Don’t be doing that!”
The shark thrashes against the sand a second time, resisting the help of the beachgoers. In the background, someone says, “Babe, look at them freaking teeth!” A close-up pan from the camera reveals surgically sharp rows of pointed teeth, mere inches from the people helping the shark. As the shark lay on its side, defeated and exhausted, one person is heard yelling, “I think it’s dead!” To which a Reddit user replied, “Also, the ‘I think it’s dead’ person has zero survival instincts.”
It seems the third time was the charm, as the men successfully pulled the shark to deeper water. Viewers acknowledged the danger but applauded the men who helped the Mako. “I was expecting the same thing that happened earlier in the month, where a guy was trying to get a picture with a shark and the shark turned and bit him. Good for these guys doing the right thing,” one user said. “Every year on this day, Mark the Mako Shark returns to this beach to thank his rescuers and enjoy a pizza party thrown in his honor,” another commented.
