LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Marshallsea, a father-of-three was cooking for his wife 57-year-old wife Wendy and 21-year-old daughter Rachel along with friends on Bulcock Beach on Queensland's sunshine coast when they heard screams of "shark."

He raced down to the beach's shoreline to find a deadly "Dusky Whaler" shark thrashing in the shallows, spreading panic among the dozens of youngsters paddling in the water.

Marshallsea leapt in the water and grabbed the shark by the tail, narrowly escaping its gnashing jaws and dragged it out to deeper water. The scene was captured by a local television crew filming on the beach nearby.

"Where this shark actually came ashore, it's shallow for about five or six yards, and a lot of babies and toddlers splash about there. It could have been very nasty," Marshallsea said.

"My instincts took over and I just grabbed the shark by the tail."

From South Wales, Marshallsea said he was lucky to escape the encounter without injury. "He turned on me and just missed me with a bite," he revealed. "The shark nearly took my leg off in a split second, it was that quick."

The Dusky Whaler shark is found in warm and tropical waters all over the world. Due to their low reproductive rate, they are one of the most endangered species of shark in the world, exacerbated by their popularity on tables of specialty fish restaurants across the world.

Their fins are highly sought after and can be used in shark fin soup, as well as for its meat, skin and liver oil.

Marshallsea added that he acted to save not only the playing children, but also the shark itself.

"I know it was dangerous but it almost looked beautiful - you have got to have respect for a beautiful animal. People might say it was a stupid thing to do, but when you see a beautiful beast struggling to survive up close and personal you somehow tend to respect it and want to help it.

"I got hold of his tail and pulled with all my might to get the shark back into deep enough water, so that the poor thing could survive.

"Her two-feet-long babies were swimming through my legs. They must have got lost and marooned by the shallow sand-banks and got beached."

Amidst the applause for his bravery, an Australian lifeguard said that "We don't recommend manhandling sharks but this gentleman did a great job."

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