Video of fisherman 'manhandling' shark is not what it seems

The video looked like fisherman was wrestling with the shark. Photo / Facebook@Rachael Foster

A viral video appearing to show a fisherman wrestling with a shark just metres from a busy shoreline has turned out to show something quite different.

A crowd at Cape Henlopen State Park Beach in Delaware on Sunday looked on as a fisherman wrapped his arms around the large shark, pulling its jaws open.

The video, captured by Rachael Foster was shared on Facebook and has been viewed more than 107,000 times. Foster told Delmarva Now people on the beach were screaming, "Shark, shark, get out of the water!' It was so crazy, like a movie. Like Jaws," she said.

Some immediately thought the fisherman was harming the shark.

She said commenters on Facebook had criticised the fisherman for grabbing on to the animal, but she insisted that wasn't the case.

"He did this by the book and was totally legal with it," she wrote.

"His buddy simply caught a shark. He went out, opened his mouth to get the hook out, then he went deeper into the water, turned the shark around and released it."

Sand tiger sharks, also known as grey nurse sharks, are a protected species in the Delaware area and local law insists they are released if caught.