Passengers on a boat tour in the Bahamas screamed in fright after witnessing a dog jump onto a hammerhead shark. The 12-foot hammerhead shark was swimming close to shore when the tourists spotted the dog running along a dock on shore and then leapt right into the water as the shark swam by.
Several tense minutes followed as the dog and shark circled one another before the dog made it safely back to shore. Video of the encounter was captured by the tour boat’s captain and crew member, Rebecca Lightbourn from Exuma Water Sports. She told NBC News via email that they don’t know why the dog decided to jump onto the shark.
“We’re unsure if the dog just wanted to play or wanted to protect his home but he just jumped right in!” Lightbourn said in the email. “He managed to splash around and even tried to take a chunk out of his fin, but the shark swam off, pretty unsure of what just happened!”
The video shows how the dog swims toward the shark as passengers shout in panic. The two animals appear to circle around each other and at one point a guest shouts, “He’s going to bite the shark!”
Passengers were incredibly concerned for the dog’s safety with one person repeatedly screaming at the dog, “Get out, baby, get out!”
After around two terrifying minutes, the dog finally jumps onto the rocks and gets out of the water. Passengers couldn’t help but cheer and marvelled at the dog’s luck.”How’d he get away with that?” asked one bystander. Some people were concerned the dog might just jump into the water again, but thankfully the canine stayed on dry land.
Lightbourn told the news station that the dog is a domesticated stray called a Bahamian Potcake and is looked after by the caretaker of the private island. The dog usually greets the tour boat on their twice daily trips but he stays ashore. They think that the hammerhead shark caught the dog’s attention and added that it was a rare sighting to see such a large hammerhead close to shore. She also revealed that she’s seen the dog since the scare and he’s ““100% A-ok.”
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