A man who jumped into water with 10 circling sharks and a fierce current to save an injured bird has been hailed a hero on Instagram.
Mohammad Rakeeb, a yacht crew member, was filmed swimming one-handed through the shark-infested ocean while holding the zebra finch up high to protect it.
As he moved closer to the yacht, a two-metre shark came into view and glided away before several more sharks can be seen starting to close in.
All the while, Mohammad was also tackling the strong current in the sea to get back to the boat.
He then reached the yacht and fellow crew members helped the exhausted man out of the water just in time.
(Image: Jam Press)
The footage was captured by Jalil Najafov, 39, a filmmaker from Azerbaijan, who was in the Maldives on the luxury yacht, Azaleo Cruise, on April 29, when it happened.
The video was later shared on Instagram, where it has been viewed over 26,000 times – as social media users hailed Mohammad for his remarkable effort to save he bird.
“Hero,” wrote someone on Instagram and another similarly commented “heroes”.
“Amazing video,” wrote another.
(Image: Jam Press)
“Wow, he’s so brave,” added a third person, while other comments included “thank you for saving the bird,” and “love this.”
Filmmaker Jalil said he went to get his camera when he saw Mohammad jumping in the water.
“This is a finch bird, her winglet was damaged and she lives onboard in the bushes,” said Jalil, who is also a conservationist.
(Image: Jam Press/@jalilnajafov)
“She jumped out of the bushes and then found herself in the water – the yacht crew noticed that and Mohammad jumped into the water to save the bird.
“At that moment I went from my cabin and saw what happened and started to film it.
“I had injured my leg and I was wearing a bandage, so I couldn’t enter the water, otherwise, as a sign of solidarity, I would have tried to help him somehow – but it was clear that he felt good, despite the strong current and swimming with one hand.”
(Image: Jam Press)
“There were about 10 nurse sharks around the boat at the time but on the video, we can only see a few.
“I never spoke to Mohammad about sharks but I think he was ok with them since he is a Maldivian guy and they meet sharks everywhere.”
The zebra finch was placed back into the bush on the yacht where it now lives after the remarkable rescue.
Jalil added: “The bird would have died in the ocean if we hadn’t saved her.”