Coast Guard Watch opens fire on shark to protect crew in the water

More than 30 crew members of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kimball decided to swim during their break on Tuesday, taking an inflatable unicorn into the water to enjoy what they described in a Facebook post as “perfect” weather.

But then the group saw a shark – they estimated it was between six and eight meters long – swimming about 30 meters directly to them, according to the USCGC, who shared a video of the incident on Facebook.

“Everyone had a great day. Everyone smiled and had fun. It was perfect! And then … Bridge staff reported” Shark! “Over the radio,” the USCGC wrote in its post on social media.

All crew members swam in the water to get out of the ocean. Some made their way to a small boat that was with the crew in the water, while others went for a ladder on the Fantail. Some swam to an open stern cap at the stern of the ship.

Cintron continued to burst on the shark fire. Each burst took the shark short of its path, but it kept turning back and forth and Cintron had to continue shooting until all his shipmates were safe, the USCGC said.

After viewing video footage, the USCGC said it believed the shark was a Long-Fin Mako or Pelagic Thresher shark, “not something to mess with!”

Fortunately, all crew members made it safely out of the water. “We even rescued the inflatable unicorn!” USCGC said.

And, the crew added, “we do not think the shark was injured … It came later to a few smaller friends who appeared and they swam off together.”