A day at the beach in Hawaii turned into a frightening ordeal for a 6-year-old girl.

Sheri Gouveia, the girl’s mother, was shooting a video of her daughter playing in the waves at Kalama Beach in Kailua, Oahu, when she noticed her daughter fleeing from the water while in the presence of a shark.

The incident happened Sunday while young Anela Rezentes was frolicking among the waves. In the video, she can be seen playing in the water until seeing the shark’s fin and then rushing towards the shore.

“My soul left my body,” Rezentes said of her encounter with the shark. “I saw a shark. I didn’t notice he was behind my back. So I really wanted to run out. I was really scared.”

Gouveia said she didn’t realize her daughter had escaped from a shark until after watching the video.

“By the time she came out of the water, she was hysterical,” Gouveia said. “I was like, 'Oh my gosh.' So I ran up, … I was looking for it but couldn’t see it. I didn’t realize it was actually a shark. That’s what shocked me.”

Experts who have viewed the video believe it was a Blacktip shark. This species hunts for food in shallow water and typically feeds on fish. Specialists don’t believe the shark was targeting Rezentes. Instead, they suspect it followed its fish prey to where the girl was playing.

Gouveia said she and her daughter are frequent visitors to the beach.

“Never ever has something like this happened before. She’s pretty much here every other weekend. I guess there really are angels watching over my angel,” Gouveia said.

Experts advise giving the shark some space and then immediately leave the water.

Sharks mostly eat smaller fish and other marine animals, rather than pursuing human swimmers
Sharks mostly eat smaller fish and other marine animals, rather than pursuing human swimmers AFP / Michele Spatari
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