A gripping scene captured a California fisherman stripping to his underwear and climbing onto a great white shark to free it from a fishing line.
Kevin Phan, 20, was on an early-morning fishing trip at Hermosa Beach Pier on Wednesday when he struggled to reel in a catch he soon realized was a juvenile great white shark.
Without a moment’s hesitation, he tore off his clothes and sprinted into the ocean for a daring rescue, an event that immediately drew a large crowd on the surrounding sand.
The dramatic scene was captured on camera by local resident Alexandra Garry, who had pulled out her phone while walking her dog along the shore, according to the Los Angeles Times.
In the video, Phan – wearing only boxers and armed with a pair of scissors – rushed into the water and climbed onto the shark, straddling it with one foot on each side.
While battling the incoming waves and the sharp-toothed shark, he managed to cut the fishing line free before using his bare hands to help the animal regain its balance and swim safely back to the sea.
‘When I saw the great white, my brain just clicked into the action, and I tried to free it as quickly as I could,’ the young fisherman told the outlet.
‘It was a little bit scary because I have never dealt with a white shark before,’ he added. ‘The teeth were a bit intimidating.’
Kevin Phan, 20, was captured on video climbing onto a juvenile great white shark to free it after accidentally hooking it with his fishing line
Phan was on a Wednesday morning fishing trip at Hermosa Beach Pier when he realized his heavy catch was actually a shark
Phan tore off his clothes and sprinted into the ocean during the rescue, armed with nothing but a scissor to cut the fishing line
The rescue unfolded shortly after 9am, when Garry noticed two fishermen wrestling to reel in a heavy catch, seemingly unaware of the surprising creature they had hooked from the ocean.
‘I was like, “Oh that’s so weird, they must have gotten something really big,”‘ she told the LA Times. ‘I thought perhaps it was a big tuna, really anything except for a shark.’
But as the catch neared, it became clear it was no ordinary fish – it was a juvenile shark.
Phan, a fisherman for the past five years, immediately sprang into action, later telling The Times that he wasn’t ‘intentionally’ targeting the animal, as he knows California regulations prohibit fishers from targeting sharks.
Describing the scene herself, Garry told the outlet: ‘The next thing I knew, one of the fishermen was half naked, stripped down to his underwear, and was in the water trying to get the hook out.’
As the realization of Phan’s unusual catch spread, beachgoers began to gather on the pier and sand, including Stephen Copeland, who dashed toward the growing commotion.
‘I saw a bunch of people over there, and I ran down there like there’s something going on,’ Copeland told KTLA 5 News. ‘He was in his underwear.’
In the footage, Phan successfully cut the fishing hook from near the shark’s face and immediately stepped back for a moment, tossing the scissors onto the sand.
After being freed, the shark seemed disoriented, struggling to regain strength and reach deeper water
The shark was caught on video rolling helplessly back-and-forth with the motion of the waves
Phan waded back into the water, lifted the shark by its tail and pushed it into an incoming wave
But despite its freedom, the sea creature initially seemed disoriented, rolling helplessly back-and-forth with the motion of the waves.
‘It was really sad, because the shark didn’t look like it was moving a bunch,’ Garry told the LA Times, as other pier-goers also feared it might be injured or dying.
The moment of uncertainty was brief, however, as Phan waded back into the water, lifted the shark by its tail, and gradually guided it away from the sand until he finally pushed it into an incoming wave.
Moments later, the shark began swimming on its own toward the depths of the sea, earning a round of applause from the onlookers who had witnessed the rescue with their own eyes.
The footage captured Phan raising both fists triumphantly in the air as he watched the shark disappear.
‘When it swam out, everyone on the pier clapped,’ Garry said. ‘It was a very much needed moment of humanity.’
In an unexpected twist, it was actually the second, smaller great white shark Phan had caught, as he revealed that earlier that same day, he had accidentally hooked another one on the other side of the pier.
Now, experts are warning that a busy marine season and increased shark sightings are expected along the Southern California coast this year.
The footage captured Phan raising raising both fists triumphantly in the air as he watched the shark swim away
Juvenile great white sharks are typically harmless since they do not view humans as a food source, but can become defensive when entangled in fishing gear (stock photo)
Warmer-than-usual ocean temperatures that stem from March’s record-breaking heat wave are expected to intensify during this year’s strong El Niño cycle – conditions that can draw juvenile sharks closer to shore.
‘The last time we had a strong El Niño was in 2015 and 2016, and we had a lot of juvenile white sharks hanging around early,’ Chris Lowe, director of the Cal State Long Beach Shark Lab, told The Los Angeles Times.
‘I’m expecting this year to be a sharky summer,’ he added.
Experts also warned that juvenile sharks, though typically harmless since they do not view humans as a food source, can become defensive and bite if hooked or entangled in fishing gear.
Officials advise that anyone who encounters a shark should remain calm, exit the water immediately and alert a lifeguard to monitor the situation.
