A surreal scene unfolded on the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kimball last week: According to reports, as the ship was patrolling somewhere in the Western Pacific, a 6-8-foot shark made menacing advances towards swimmers who were enjoying an after-work-hours dip in the great blue.
As the shark made advances towards the other Coast Guard members, Petty Officer First Class Samuel Cintron opened fire on the predator to keep it away from his fellow crew members, who were busy scrambling to the Kimball or to another small rescue boat deployed for safety during the “swim call” (note the floating unicorn).
“ME1 Cintron fired a well-aimed burst right at/on top of the shark to protect shipmates just feet away,” reads a post on the Kimball’s Facebook page. “It turned away for a few seconds then turned back. 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…”
The ship’s crew and Coast Guard officials are reviewing the film taken from the ship, above, but think it was, “a Long-Fin Mako or Pelagic Thresher Shark,” which is clearly visible in the last half of the video. Officer Cintron will apparently appear on Good Morning America to talk about the incident in which there were no injuries – to either Coast Guard members or the shark.
“The shots turned (the shark) away from our shipmates so they had time to get out of the water. A few of its buddies later showed up and they swam off together.”
