A vulnerable thresher shark got stuck Monday afternoon on Rockaway Beach — until a fearless beachgoer was able to drag the struggling fish back to the safety of its home in the deep.
The shark washed up on the shore around 4:40 p.m. near Beach 69th St. and despite their attempts, beachgoers were initially unable to help the shark, which one estimated was between 10 and 15 feet long and between 400 and 500 pounds — until one person heroically threw his arms around the animals neck and dragged it into deeper water.
“He’s the hero of the day, for sure,” said Zoe Berger, who was at the beach and participated in the rescue efforts. “It would not have been as good of a situation as it was for the shark if he hadn’t have been there.”
At first, people noticed the shark struggling and attempted to get it back into the water, but the shark’s wildly flailing tail prevented anyone from getting too close.
“When it was whipping its tail around it was so strong that people had to move back from helping it,” Berger said. “We were just pushing and trying anything to get it back out there when this guy came running up and just grabbed it and dragged it back into the water.”
The man identified himself as Gio Barillias, but he was not able to be reached for comment Monday night.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists thresher sharks as “vulnerable” to extinction.
With Chris Sommerfeldt
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