Those New Yorkers are fearless!

A group of sunbathers first spotted the shark Saturday morning when it splashed out of the surf near Beach 109th St in New York.

Rather than flee, the beachgoers pushed the shark back into the ocean. For several hours, the 5-foot thresher shark could be seen swimming just offshore.

Hans Walters, a shark researcher and supervisor at the New York Aquarium, said he was impressed by the way New Yorkers responded to the shark sighting.

"Sharks get a lot of bad press," he said. "But the public that was at the beach said, 'Hey, we gotta help this animal,' rather than, 'Hey, it's a shark. Let's kill it.'"

"It's just sad the shark didn't live." (The dead shark washed ashore around 6 a.m. near Beach 113th St. on Sunday.)