WATCH: US Coast Guard Shoots at Shark Preying on Swimmers

A dangerous predator, and lots of gunfire – the keys to a relaxing swim.

It looks like America’s infamous Shark Week was extended until last Wednesday for these unlucky people. Luckily, none of the 40 swimmers, or the inflatable unicorn, were harmed.

The crew members of US Coast Guard Cutter Kimball were enjoying a well-earned break in the Pacific Ocean when they were approached by the predator, which witnesses say was anywhere from six to eight feet long. 

The creature, that was identified as either a Long-Fin Mako or Pelagic Thresher shark, was seen making a sharp turn towards the crew members, and the video shows how closely they managed to avoid a potentially life-threatening encounter. The shots fired by the shark watch, or ME1 Clintron, may not have hit the animal – but they bought the swimmers enough time to climb out of the water and onto the deck, safely out of reach.

Tempting Fate

There was one tiny injury, though – one of the crew members grazed his knee whilst climbing back on board the ship – and the scratch was in the middle of a tattoo picturing an open set of shark’s teeth. If that’s not a sign from the universe that this guy got incredibly lucky, then we don’t know what is.

The crew can’t disclose exactly where the ship was for national security reasons, but in a post on the US Coast Guard Cutter Kimball Facebook page, they said that they were “a zillion miles from land”. The post also confirmed that everyone got away unscathed, “including the shark.” It added that “a few of its buddies later showed up and they swam off together.”

“It wasn’t the panic of the 4th of July scene from JAWS, but once everyone realised what was happening, they moved with a purpose!” the post said. They believe that the crew will be “retelling the story for years.”

In another post, the Coast Guard celebrated an invitation to Good Morning America for the hero of the hour, Clintron.