This is the distressing moment a 10 foot great white shark fights for its life after being washed up a beach in California.

The sharp-toothed fish was spotted writhing around in the shallow waters in Santa Cruz on Friday evening.

Beachgoers soon gathered around to capture the marine animal on their phones, with some standing just a few feet from the gasping predator.

Too close for comfort? A great white shark washed up on a beach in Santa Cruz, California, on Friday evening with the event attracting dozens of people

Video footage captured by a local resident, Mark Shawtz, shows the shark helplessly rolling around on its back before righting itself.

With its mouth open, it then fights for breathe with its razor-sharp teeth on display.

A man is seen getting very close to the great white shark as he attempts to capture the moment on his camera phone.

He paddles into the water and crouches down to get a good shot.

The shark appears unable to move from the spot, with its back fin seemingly stuck in the sand.

Distressing: Video footage captured by a local resident, Mark Shawtz, shows the shark helplessly rolling around on its back before righting itself

Animal experts soon arrived on the scene.

Two attempts were made to take the shark out to deeper waters but it was later found dead further down shore.

Sean Van Sommeran, the executive director of the Pelagic Research Shark Foundation, told the Santa Cruz Sentinel that it was unclear what had happened to the shark.

Recalling the incident, he said: 'Something was wrong with the shark.

Two attempts were made to take the shark out to deeper waters but it was later found dead further down shore

Vets are currently investigating the cause of death but it's suspected that the shark was blighted by a fishing hook or nervous system infection

'The shark lost energy after hours spent flailing ashore and in shallow water.

'It was upside down as we tried to get it to deeper water. A healthy shark wouldn’t do that.'

The creature was loaded on to the back of a pick-up truck by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and taken to a lab for a necropsy.

Vets are currently investigating the cause of death but it's suspected that the shark was blighted by a fishing hook or nervous system infection.

Van Sommeran said there have been more than 100 shark deaths already this year in California.

Great white sharks are considered 'vulnerable' by the World Wildlife Fund, meaning they face a high risk of extinction in the wild.

The species has rapidly declined over recent years rare due to years of being hunted for their fins and being snared by commercial fishing nets.