A US Coast Guard officer had to shoot an eight-foot shark after it was spotted heading for dozens of crew members enjoying a swim.
Cutter Kimball's crew had not seen land in weeks and decided to take a well-earned break with a dip in the ocean.
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But things quickly took a turn for the worse when a large shark was seen in the area, heading towards the 30-40 people splashing about in the water.
Fortunately, the team had positioned a safety boat 50 yards away from the ship with an armed 'shark watch' on the main deck to keep an eye out for any danger.
After several blasts from the sharp shooter's rifle, the persistent predator scurried away, giving the crew in the water the time to get to safety.
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The bizarre story was shared by the Coast Guard on its Facebook page.
The post reads: "As if right out of a Hollywood movie, a 6-8 foot shark (no exaggeration) surfaced at the Rescue Door and was swimming toward 30-40 people in the water about 30 feet away. Everyone on the Flight Deck had a bird's eye view.
"A review of video shot by a crew member reveals it was likely a Long-Fin Mako or Pelagic Thresher Shark - not something to mess with!
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"ME1 Cintron, our shark watch, was on the Flight Deck and immediately locked on target...literally! 
"Our animal-lover Chief who wants to save every animal she finds yelled, 'Shoot it!'
"ME1 Cintron fired a well-aimed burst right at/on top of the shark to protect shipmates just feet away. It turned away for a few seconds then turned back.
"The shark would wave off with each burst but kept coming back toward our shipmates."
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Luckily, everyone made it back safely onto the ship and the shark is not believed to have been injured.
In fact, the only injury was a scrape on the knee of a crew member trying to get back on board the ship.
And you won't believe where the wound was.
"The only injury was a small scrape OS3 Berk suffered while climbing aboard. Our hyper vigilant HSC didn't even deem it worth a band aid," the officer added.
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"But where was it located you ask? On his knee....in the centre of a tattoo. What tattoo, you ask? An open set of shark's teeth. Seriously, you can't make this up!"
Now, after such a close call, you'd think they'd be in a state of shock and would most likely want to take their minds off it all. Not these lads.
The post concludes: "The crew's top requests for movies on the Flight Deck that night were Jaws followed by Sharknado (seriously).
"The shark is definitely making the Patrol t-shirt."
Featured Image Credit: US Coast GuardTopics: US News, Weird, Animals, shark