Fisherman in South Carolina drags angry shark back into water

June 4 (UPI) -- A visitor to a South Carolina beach captured video as a fisherman risked his limbs to return his catch -- a blacktip shark -- to the ocean.

Taylor McSwain, a former South Carolina resident who was visiting a Garden City beach on Friday evening, said she started recording when it became clear the fisherman had hooked something big.

"You could tell it was a big catch," McSwain told The State. "I've seen sharks caught before, but they've been sand sharks, just babies."

McSwain said the fisherman and other witnesses identified the fish as a 4- to 5-foot blacktip shark. State law requires blacktip sharks larger than 54 inches to be returned to the water.

McSwain said the fisherman carefully removed his hook from the shark's mouth before dragging the predator, which had been wildly thrashing in the sand only seconds earlier, back into the water.

"Hollywood has made sharks out to be man-eating monsters," McSwain said. "I'm just in such awe of them."