Swimmers rush out of water when shark attacks seal at Cape Cod beach

Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Visitors to a popular Cape Cod beach rushed to shore when a shark was spotted attacking a seal dangerously close to swimmers.

Thayer Wade captured video Monday at Nauset Beach in Orleans, Mass., showing swimmers rushing to shore as the water fills with blood from the shark attacking the seal.

Wade's video, which was tweeted by his uncle, Pat O'Brien, shows what witnesses said appeared to be an attack from a great white shark.

"I looked up and saw the dorsal fin and the tail of what was a great white shark," Wade told WBZ-TV. "You didn't know if it was a seal or a human so it was kind of a heart stopping moment."

O'Brien and his 9-year-old daughter were in the water at the time of the attack.

"We were all yelling 'Swim! Swim! Shark swim!' but they didn't react at first," O'Brien.

He said he helped a teen surfer who was having trouble getting to shore after getting his foot caught in his surfboard cord.

"He reached up and he yelled 'Help me! Help me!' and I grabbed his right arm and another guy grabbed his left arm and we pulled him out," O'Brien said.

There were no human injuries reported, but the beach was closed for the rest of the day.

"Definitely gives me a different perspective on a beach I've been to my whole life," Wade said. "I'll probably think twice about jumping in the water."