• A group of fishermen rescued a shark after it was caught in a net in Ramsgate on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast.
• The fishermen were at the beach taking advantage of the annual sardine run.
• The shark was released back into the ocean unharmed. 

When Faeez Mamdoo moved to Uvongo on KwaZulu-Natal's south coast, he hoped the move would give him a break from the buzz he had become accustomed to in Johannesburg.

However, less than three months after his move, he found himself witnessing an unexpected seaside stir.

On Monday, Mamdoo and his wife were at the beach watching fisherman take advantage of the annual sardine run.

"The whole experience, seeing the guys lay the nets around the pockets of sardines and then haul in thousands of fish, was just amazing," he told News24.

But all of this was interrupted when some unexpected visitors appeared near the shore.

"I've never witnessed anything like this. I was within a few metres from a live shark. I mean come on? How can you be disappointed with that?" he said.

Mamdoo said they saw three sharks flapping around a family of sardines.

"The guys [the fishermen] went into the water to chase them away so they wouldn't interfere with the nets. Two swam away but obviously one still hung around," he told News24.

A video Mamdoo recorded and subsequently shared online, shows the shark caught in a net. And frantically wiggling around, trying to break free.

"As soon as they [the fishermen] saw the shark, they started shouting for a knife. It wasn't about the sardines anymore, or the net, it was about getting the shark back into the ocean," he said.

Their hard work paid off and the shark was finally freed from the net.

Greg Thompson, acting HOD of operations on the KZN Sharks Board, said he was impressed with how the fishermen handled the shark.

"A lot of these guys are commercial fisherman or professional anglers and are used to handling sharks. They always do their utmost to release the sharks alive," he said.