This shark was found desperately wriggling back and forth as it attempted to get itself back into the water after beaching itself in Southern Spain.

Luckily for the shark, it was stumbled upon by a local who was about to enjoy an afternoon swim on the Retamar beach in the Southern Spanish city of Almeria last Sunday (20th June).

However, after finding the shark, the unnamed swimmer called the police who arrived at the beach alongside three members of the Equinac NGO.

Equinac has more than 15 years of experience saving the lives of large beached animals in Spain including turtles, whales and sharks.

According to the local news site La Voz de Almeria, the team from Equinac and the police officers worked together to successfully push the shark back into the water.

Equinac said in a statement: “In this case, as it was a fish that was stranded on the beach and not a mammal the primary objective was to get it back into the water as soon as possible.”

They added: “Unlike when a cetacean or sea turtle is beached, a shark can’t draw oxygen outside of the water and therefore is likely to suffocate much quicker.”

The Equinac team continued to patrol the beach near the incident throughout the day as they were concerned that the shark would end up getting beached again.

They saw no sign of the shark and said that the work of the public, the lifeguards and the police were crucial in saving the shark’s life.

A similar incident occurred in Almeria earlier this year (2021) in May but the team wasn’t able to get to the shark on time and it suffocated on the beach.