TERRIFYING footage shows the moment a group of fisherman wrestled a great white shark back into the water after catching it.
The whopping 13-foot animal was caught by experienced fishermen Luke Beard and his friend Jason Rosenfeld in Frisco on Hatteras Island off the coast of North Carolina.
Terrifying moment 7 fishermen wrestle with giant 13ft 1,800lb great white shark[/caption]
Jason Rosenfeld (left) and Luke Beard (right) regularly go fishing together but were not prepared for a great white[/caption]
The terrifying ordeal took 35 minutes from reeling in the animal to releasing it[/caption]
The pair were patiently waiting for a bite over the weekend and were quickly flung into action, with several others running in to help once they reeled in the apex predator weighing up to 1,800lb.
Footage from the 35-minute ordeal showed the moment the group of men wrestled the beast back into the water.
Three of the men grabbed hold of its tail as a fourth came to grip its dorsal fin – all of them only too aware of avoiding the shark’s deadly jaws containing rows of razor sharp teeth.
As they struggled to budge the creature, two other fishermen ran over to help push the animal further into the water, away from the shore.
They were hit with sudden panic when a wave rolled in and pushed the beast back towards them.
A number of the fishermen ran back up the beach as one brave man held on.
On his own, he managed to push the animal away into deeper water and the grateful shark quickly swam off.
Once it was clear the shark had no interest in them, the group of men raised their arms in the air in celebration of the rescue effort.
One even threw himself down into the waves and raises his hands to his head in disbelief.
Fisherman Luke Beard who shared the footage, said it was an extraordinary moment.
He told WRAL: “It’s breathtaking seeing a 12-to-13-foot, 1,400-to-1,800-pound animal jump out of the water on the hook set.
“There have been a few great whites caught in North Carolina. None of them have been as big as that one.”
The pair had gone out that day with the hopes of “catching something big”, Rosenfeld told Fox News, always with the intention of releasing it, but a great white was not in their plans.
“I set hook on the fish and it just felt different,” Beard said, going on to explain that “there’s no delay” when it comes to releasing the animals.
“It’s such a small window of time and you have to be super accurate with what you are doing.
Beard estimated that the shark weighed up to 1,800lbs[/caption]
Once helped back into deeper water, the shark quickly swam away from the fishermen[/caption]
“I was about in tears when we released that fish because you never know if you’re going to be able to do that in your lifetime.
“It gives me chills even thinking about it. It was unbelievable.”
The fisherman later shared a photo of an injury he sustained in the shocking release operation.
He shared a picture of a severely grazed and red-raw thigh where his leg rubbed against the rough skin of the apex predator.
Beard wrote: “3 and 1/2 days later White shark rash. It sucks, but it’s totally worth it!”
Images shared online reveal that the two men have previously managed to reel in a Hammerhead shark and a Spotted Eagle Ray in Frisco.
The Sun previously reported on Curtis Miller, a British dad who was left bloodied after being bitten by a 300lb shark while on a fishing trip with pals in South Africa.
The 30-year-old suffered deep wounds to his arm as the beast tore open three of his arteries.
Beard showed off the raw graze he got during the release operation after his leg rubbed on the animal’s rough skin[/caption]
