Man in Spain helps shark give birth

A man in Spain has done a 'good deed' not many can boast of - he helped a shark give birth to a total of ten babies on a local beach.

Antonio Calvillo was driving to work one morning when he saw something thrashing around on the beach in Fuengirola in southern Spain.

"I thought it was a stranded dolphin but when I made my way over, I realised it was a (Blue) shark," he said.

He called emergency services and then decided to try and drag the animal out to sea by the tail "because it seemed tired, but not injured or hurt".

A married couple who were passing by also offered to help him.

"But while (the shark) was thrashing about we noticed a little tail coming out of its stomach," Calvillo told the newspaper La Opinion de Malaga.

When the rescuers realised the animal was giving birth, Calvillo applied pressure to its stomach. He did so until the creature had given birth to around ten babies, 'The Local' reported.

They little sharks then swam back towards the sea.

"My first thought was that if something happens to the mother at least the babies will live," Calvillo said.

Two local Civil Guard officers then arrived to help drag the exhausted shark back into the water. Eventually the mother shark recovered enough to be able to swim out to sea unaided.

"I'll never forget this amazing experience," Calvillo said.

Blue sharks are seen regularly in the waters off Fuengirola. They are considered dangerous because there have been recorded attacks on people by this species of shark.