A woman who was fishing on a Florida beach attempted to give a shark a helping hand, but the animal ended up grabbing on and not letting go.

The unidentified woman, who was at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, attempted to take a nurse shark out of fishing line where it was tangled on a patch of rocks.

However, she ended up receiving minor puncture wounds on her right hand after the animal flipped over and latched on to her.

An unidentified woman at a Lauderdale on the Sea, Florida, beach screamed in pain as bystanders watched a policeman pry a shark off her hand with a billy club

The nurse shark had reportedly been trapped in fishing line on a patch of rocks before an attempt to save it resulted in the bite

'She was screaming, you could tell she was in severe pain,' one bystander told Local 10.

The woman carried the animal that bit her out of the water during the incident, and first responders rushed to hep her after a bystander called 911.

Police arrived and had to pry the shark off with a billy club.

Nurse sharks are normally not aggressive, though authorities warned beachgoers to contact wildlife experts if they are confronted with situations such as Saturday's.

The shark was released back in to the water and the woman returned to the beach after being treated by paramedics on the scene.

The shark was released back into the water after being taken off of the woman's hand and the victim returned to the beach after treatment for her injuries

Nurse sharks are normally not aggressive, and authorities urged beachgoers to contact wildlife experts in situations such as Saturday's

Recent Florida shark attacks have seen more serious consequences.

In late May two attacks were reported on the same day, when two teenage girls in different parts of central Florida were both bitten.

One was taken to the hospital after a bite on the foot.

There had been at least eight attacks in the US this year as of May 30, including one fatal incident in Maui, Hawaii, according to ABC News.