'Give him a push': Watch beachgoers help stranded shark back into the water in Nantucket

A white shark that found itself stranded on a beach in Massachusetts was helped back into the water by a group of kind beachgoers.

Liza Phillips was tossing football with her dad and brother at Low Beach in Nantucket, when they noticed "a beach creature in the distance." She grabbed her phone and ran towards the animal, Phillips told Storyful.

“We were all in shock watching this beautiful beast struggling and dying, full of sandburn rashes," Phillips told Storyful. "I felt helpless watching it flounder in the surf, but I remember looking back and seeing a friend of ours take off his shirt and I knew we both had to step in and help the shark back to sea."

What to know:What kinds of sharks live in Massachusetts waters?

Video footage shows beachgoers push shark back into the water

Video footage from the scene shows the great white shark struggling on the beach after it washed ashore. Two Good Samaritans, who witnessed the marine animal floundering close to the shore, then go towards the shark, gently pushing it back into the ocean until it becomes steady.

“Give him a push!” a woman can be heard saying in the background.

The shark eventually swims back towards deeper waters.

How to help a distressed or stranded animal

If you encounter a marine animal that is sick, injured, malnourished, entangled, deceased or oiled, the Pacific Marine Mammal Center recommends the following:

• Contact authorities immediately
• Keep your distance from the animal in order to give the animal the best chance of survival.
• Do not pour water on the animal. Federal law prohibits touching, feeding, harassing, removing or returning a beached mammal to the water.
• Monitor from a safe distance and make necessary observations. Politely keep other people away from the animal.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.