Great white shark rescued by Cape Cod beachgoers

Beachgoers in Cape Cod in Massachusettserupted with joy after seeing a troubled shark revived and brought back into the water.

Members of the public in Chatham,along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, began splashing water over a beached juvenile great white's gill slits in an effort to revive the motionless shark.

Those efforts were successful and the shark was hooked up to a rope, connected to a boat and hauled back into the ocean.

Cynthia Wigren of the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy told CBS affiliate WTKRthatsharks often got stuck in the shallow waters along the coast. "It was hard for them to get out, but for a shark to be beached, is a big deal," she said.

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"There was no way for the shark to get to where it could swim, so it just kept flapping and moving over," witness Kelly Skanell told the U.S. television station.

The crowd, some watching and others participating in the rescue, cheered and clapped after seeing the shark rescued. The 2.1-metre-longmale shark was freed nearly two kilometres from the shore.

According to ABC affiliate WCVD in Boston, the shark was tagged and released after about an hour-long tow into deeper ocean waters.