People who are willing to go out of their way to rescue the life of an animal are truly valuable heroes. While most rescue missions tend to happen above water, sometimes fascinating things can happen under the sea. When one diver was approached by a shark during an aquatic adventure, he was pretty terrified. That was until he realized that the shark was in desperate need of help!

20. Local Diver

Image: wp.jumblejoy.com

Josh Eccles is a local diver that had been diving with the Emerald Dive Charters in Jupiter, Florida. Eccles is no stranger to the art of diving and has been doing it for the past five years.

19. Diving Experience

Image: YouTube

For the past five years, Eccles has been diving into the waters of Jupiter, Florida. He does this three times a day every single day. Needless to say, the man has a ton of experience.

18. One Day

Image: wp.jumblejoy.com

However, on one particular day, Eccles went diving with his team and could tell that something wasn’t right. While in the Atlantic Ocean, a shark continuously tried to get his attention. It was very strange.

17. Lemon Shark

Image: YouTube

The shark that was trying desperately to get the diver’s attention was a lemon shark. “They always bump into us but they don’t bump into us that frequently,” Eccles told WPBF. That’s how he knew something was wrong.

16. Female Shark

Image: YouTube/TomoNews US

“This female shark kept constantly bumping into me,” Eccles told CBS News. “And when she would bump into me she would lift up her head, showing me her stomach.” It was pretty intimidating, to say the least.

15. Common Sighting

Image: Discovery

It’s not unusual to run into lemon sharks when diving in the Jupiter waters. Local residents constantly have run-ins with the sharks on the beach. However, that doesn’t mean that they aren’t an intimidating bunch.

14. Facts

Image: Danielle’s Dives Blog

Running into lemon sharks can be a pretty scary sighting. These sharks are very powerful and can reach lengths of up to 11 feet. They also feast on other sharks, large seabirds, and other sea creatures.

13. Not Aggressive

Image: divein.com

However, even though lemon sharks are big and powerful they’re typically not aggressive toward humans. That’s why when Eccles had run-ins with them before he was never quite fearful of the situation.

12. Instinct

Image: YouTube/TomoNews US

After the shark had continuously nudged Eccles, he realized that something was up. That’s when he decided to see what the shark was trying to show him. Suddenly, Eccles saw what the problem was!

11. Huge Hook

Image: TomoNews US

As Eccles looked closer, he saw that there was a huge hook sticking out of the shark’s belly. “It would lift up its stomach and I noticed something, so I kind of poked at it a little, the little hook or something,” Eccles explained.

10. Trying To Help

Image: palmbeachpost.com

Eccles began to try and help by pulling out the hook. However, the first time he tried to help, the shark quickly swam away. This wasn’t going to be an easy rescue.

9. Swimming Back

Image: wtsp.com

Eventually, the shark swam back to Eccles. This time, he grabbed the shark by the head and pulled up so that he could get a better look. “It was metal,” he said. “It wouldn’t give. I would slowly pull, pull, pull.”

8. Pulling

Image: YouTube/TomoNews US

Eccles continued to pull and pull in order to get the object out. He could tell that it was a hook, however, he didn’t know just how big it was. Finally, he was able to pull the thing out and it was enormous.

7. Enormous

Image: wtsp.com

When Eccles finally worked the hook out he was shocked by the size of it. Eccles, who is 6-foot-3-inches tall and 200 pounds said that the hook was the size of his hand. It’s no wonder the shark was so adamant about its removal.

6. Removal

Image: YouTube/TomoNews US

“It was the kind of thing she definitely wanted out,” he said. “As soon as I started messing with it, [the shark] was like ‘Get this out of me.’” Eccles has an idea of how it had gotten stuck in the first place.

5. Swallowed

Image: APost

Eccles believes the shark must have swallowed the hook over a year ago. Finally, the hook had worked its way out of her body. “That was a crazy opportunity, experience to be a part of,” Eccles said.

4. Saying Thanks

Image: YouTube/The Dodo

Eccles and his team had been filming the entire interaction when they captured something else amazing on camera. It seems that at one point the shark swam up to the camera as a way to give thanks.

3. Successful

Image: YouTube/The Dodo

Once the hook had been removed from the shark’s belly, she was grateful and ready to be on her way. She enthusiastically swam away and into the clear waters. Eccles felt accomplished.

2. Incredible Experience

Image: YouTube/The Dodo

What Eccles and his team got to experience was something truly incredible. Getting that close to a lemon shark that was injured without getting hurt is a spectacular occurrence.

1. True Hero

Image: YouTube/The Dodo

Eccles is a true hero for going out of his way to help out the poor lemon shark. Thanks to his bravery, the lemon shark can now continue on with her life in the waters.