Good Samaritans Come Together to Rescue Stranded Great White Shark in Nantucket

Ever since Jaws put millions of moviegoers off of ocean swimming in 1975, people have feared great white sharks as the powerful apex predators that they are. While some of these fears are overblown, and the likelihood of actually getting bitten by one is very low, most people would think twice before going anywhere near a great white, to say the least.

But even the most powerful predator can find themselves in dire straits, and that's what happened when a great white shark washed up on a Nantucket beach on Friday. Luckily, a few brave Good Samaritans managed to set aside their fears and stepped in to save the day!

According to the Nantucket Current (@nantucketcurrent), the beached shark was discovered on Nantucket's Low Beach by Liza Phillips, who was visiting from California with her family and friends. At first, Liza thought she was looking at a beached whale, but as she and her group approached, they realized they were standing face-to-fin with a great white shark.

Related: Father and Son's Encounter with Massive Great White Shark Leaves People Shocked

Initially, the group was stunned, and they anxiously waited to see if the great white would right itself and get back in the water. But as the stranded shark continued to flounder helplessly on the sand, Phillips realized that they were its only hope of survival.

"It was so helpless, we were thinking it was going to get back in itself but it was completely beached," Phillips told the Nantucket Current. "We said we have to step up and try to help. Definitely, there was some adrenaline involved."

Despite the danger of approaching the flailing shark, Phillips and her friend Ted Rock carefully rolled it deeper into the water. At first, things looked grim as the shark flipped helplessly to the side. But with a few last pushes, Phillips and Rock managed to move it upright, and it finally swam back into the sea.

Phillips never expected to take on the role of shark savior when she hit the beach that day. Now, she'll have an incredible story to bring back with her to California.

"Touching a great white? That's not even something you put on a bucket list because it's just so unbelievable," Phillips marveled.

Saving a Stranded Shark

While shark beachings aren't very common, they can happen when a shark is injured, sick, or gets stressed or disoriented while swimming in shallow water. Unlike beached whales and dolphins, which can potentially survive on land for an hour or more, sharks need a constant flow of water past their gills to breathe. Without it, most will die within minutes.

If you were to encounter a beached great white, National Geographic first recommends tossing water on the shark's body to get it as wet and oxygenated as possible. The next step is getting it back into water deep enough to flow past its mouth and gills so that it can breathe again and, hopefully, regain enough strength to swim forward on its own. Depending on how sick or injured the shark is, survival is still not guaranteed, but at least it'll have a fighting chance!

What Phillips and her friend did was very brave and potentially saved the shark's life. However, New England Aquarium shark expert John Chisholm told Boston.com that their rescue was a dangerous one - not just because of the bite risk, but also because of potential injuries from the shark's rough skin and thrashing tail.

It takes true courage to put oneself on the line to help an animal in need like Liza Phillips did. Still, if you ever end up assisting a shark rescue yourself, please take care and stay safe!

Looking for more PetHelpful updates? Follow us on YouTube for more entertaining videos. Or, share your own adorable pet by submitting a video, and sign up for our newsletter for the latest pet updates and tips.