Holidaymakers on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, USA, passed over sunbathing and building sand castles to join hands and rescue a great white shark stranded on the beach on Sunday.

The crowd poured water on the 14-foot adult male shark after it was stranded on Whitecrest Beach shore having failed to navigate the shallows.

They also attempted to free it by digging a trench, reports Mashable.

The shark, weighing around 2,000 pounds, was later pulled back to sea using rope and a boat.

However, it was too late to save the creature by then.

"There’s only so much you can do, it’s a fish out of water. They’re basically drowning," Mashable quoted Greg Skomal, a shark expert with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, talking to The Boston Globe.