A fisherman has gone viral after footage of him swimming with a massive shark emerged online.
Florida fisherman Brandon Griffin walked the hammerhead shark back into the ocean after it became snagged on his fishing line.
In the GoPro footage, Griffin is shown braving the waves as he guides the shark back out to sea by its dorsal fin and cheering at its release.
It's understood the catch and release, which took place on the morning of December 9, took just 22 minutes.
"We target big sharks off the beach - all legal. You don't don't know what you're going to catch, but we hooked into a hammerhead and they are protected," Griffin told Yahoo News Australia.
"We did whatever it took to get it in really fast, get the hook out. Then I swam with it past the shore break to ensure it had a good release and swam out perfectly fine."
It comes just weeks after a Sydney surfer's close encounter with a 1.7m grey shark was captured on drone footage.
Footage showed the huge creature within reach of the Bondi Beach surfer, who remained oblivious to the animal throughout the exchange.
NSW beachgoers can keep an eye out for the latest shark alerts at: sharksmart.nsw.gov.au
