US Coast Guard Encounters Shark, Celebrates Survival With ‘Jaws’ And ‘Sharknado’ Movies

The U.S. Coast Guard’s swim break turned into a dangerous situation when a shark came along.

The Coasties on the USCGC Kimball went for a dip in the Pacific Ocean for a “swim call,” some fun to break up the daily work schedule. In a Facebook post, the Hawaii-based Guardsmen said this was normal.

“We had a fully vetted and tested plan we've used before, conducted safety briefs, established communications between the various stations, launched our small boat with extra crew and a dressed out swimmer and stationed it 50 yards off the ship, set an armed shark watch, opened and manned the Rescue Station, and put an accountability system in place,” the post reads.

That shark watch came in handy. Bridge personnel called “Shark!” over the radio. “As if right out of a Hollywood movie, a 6-8 foot shark (no exaggeration) surfaced at the Rescue Door and was swimming toward 30-40 people in the water about 30 feet away,” the USCG says.

Realizing that the shark was headed right for their crew, the Coast Guard had to fire shots to protect their team.

“ME1 Cintron fired a well-aimed burst right at/on top of the shark to protect shipmates just feet away. It turned away for a few seconds then turned back,” the post recalls. “We kept directing people out of the water while keeping a clear line of sight on the shark. ME1 fired bursts as needed to keep the shark from his shipmates with amazing accuracy. The shark would wave off with each burst but kept coming back toward our shipmates.”

It’s believed that the shark was either a Long-Fin Mako or Pelagic Thresher Shark, but luckily, everyone managed to safely get out of the shark’s way. The shots didn’t seem to do more than scare the shark, who eventually swam away with a couple of smaller sharks.

Crew member Samuel Cintron told Good Morning America, “I wasn’t going to risk the lives of my shipmates. I made the call and I engaged it.”

Every swimmer was saved, even inflatable unicorn. The only injury was a scrape one man got on his knee when climbing into the rescue boat. The scrape didn’t require a bandage, but it was ironically in the center of a shark teeth tattoo.

They are writing new Shark Watch and Response Tactics based on the incident.

The USCGC Kimball crew wasn’t too shaken up. After all, they decided to watch “Jaws” and “Sharknado” that night.