Good Samaritans are being lauded on social media for saving the life of the "world's fastest shark" after it became stranded on a Brazilian beach.
A video of the daring rescue is presently trending on social media.
"The shark was pulled to the ocean and ended up swimming away," said videographer Rogerio Dos Santos Rodrigues of the event, which happened last week on a beach in Itanhaém, Sao Paulo.
World's fastest shark rescued
Maddie Meyer Getty Images
Beachgoers were wandering down the beach when they came upon the beached shortfin mako, the world's fastest shark capable of speeds of up to 45 miles per hour, as per the New York Post.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, it may grow to be about 15 feet long and weigh up to 1,100 pounds.
Edvan Silva, a local painter, claimed he was "frightened" when he first spotted the mako, adding, "I surf this beach, and I'm becoming afraid. A lot of sharks have been popping up here lately."
Even though they were amid a terrifying predator, the "Jaws"-inspired pedestrians banded together to save the trapped marine beast.
A Samaritan can be seen carrying the blue mako, which is believed to be around 5 feet long, toward the water by the tail in the following video.
The fish starts thrashing about furiously, causing the onlooker to dump it on the sand, where a brave woman takes it by the tail and drags it the rest of the way like a mako relay race.
Members of the Biopesca Institute arrived shortly after to investigate the incident, but the fish had already swum away and did not "beach again," according to the organization.
Because of the species' scarcity, saving the mako was critical.
Shortfin mako sharks are extremely migratory, with individuals making extended migrations each year, as per Oceana.
The shortfin mako shark, like real tunas, great white sharks, and other fish, has a particular blood channel structure called a countercurrent exchanger that allows them to maintain a body temperature that is greater than the surrounding water.
This modification gives them a significant edge while hunting in cold water since it allows them to move more rapidly and intelligently.
This species consumes a wide range of prey.
They are known to eat primarily bony fishes (including relatively large tunas) and squids, but they will also consume other sharks, small marine mammals, sea turtles, and even dead organic matter.
Adult shortfin makos have no known natural predators and are at the top of the pelagic food web.
Juveniles are most likely devoured by other sharks, as well as maybe by cannibalistic adults.
Shortfin mako sharks mate internally and give birth to a limited number of quite a big offspring. Even though they give live birth, these sharks do not connect to their offspring via a placenta.
Instead, during the gestation period, the mother feeds her young unfertilized eggs, which they actively consume for nutrition.
While the shortfin mako shark is one of the few shark species known to have bitten and killed humans, such incidents are extremely rare and most likely unintentional (a case of mistaken identity).
Shortfin mako sharks have a vast geographical range and may be found in all oceans from tropical to temperate latitudes.
They are either commercially or unintentionally caught in fisheries aimed at other species anywhere they inhabit.
The great quality of their fins and flesh makes these sharks valuable.
Fishermen that use longline fishing gear to catch swordfish, yellowfin tuna, and other tunas sometimes catch and sell shortfin mako sharks.
Other fisheries target these sharks with longline or gillnet fishing gear.
The combination of these behaviors is reducing shortfin mako populations all across the world, and experts now feel they are on the verge of extinction.
