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British tourist wrestles shark away from Australian beach

A tourist from Wales took on a shark while on vacation in Australia, wrestling it away from a beach where children were playing.

A television news team caught the incident on camera, according to the BBC, and it's since circulated the web as viewers commend his bravery — or marvel at his insanity.

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News stories later identified the man as Paul Marshallsea, a 62-year-old who was on vacation with his wife and daughter.

He told the BBC he was barbecuing when people on the beach yelled 'shark.' He ran over to the shore, grabbed the shark by its tail and swung it around toward deeper water.

The video shows Marshallsea falling down after dragging the shark and he later told the BBC he narrowly missed being bit. Another man stepped in and gently turned the creature around before it swam away.

A lifeguard at the scene speculated the shark might have been sick or very hungry, according to Sky News. The animal was a Dusky shark, which can grow up to 12 feet in length, according to National Geographic.

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The Canadian Shark Research Laboratory says the Dusky shark is considered dangerous to humans because of its size and tendency to swim near shore, however, experts told the BBC attacks are rare.