Sharks rule their domain in the world’s oceans. The apex predators strike fear in marine mammals and man.

And, at least on one occasion this week in San Juan Capistrano, California, golfers at the San Juan Hills Golf Club had a close call when a 2-foot leopard shark that fell from the sky.

The course marshal picked up the bleeding shark and took it to the clubhouse where he put it in a bucket of water. The shark was suffering with puncture wounds from a bird that had apparently plucked it from the nearby Pacific Ocean and inadvertently dropped it over the 12th tee.

“We knew we had to get it to the ocean as fast as possible,” said Melissa McCormack. An employee drove it back to the ocean and placed it in the water.

It did not immediately moved…and then its natural instincts kicked in. It flopped, it flipped and then took off, swimming fast away from its aerial adventure.

Copyright © 2012 by Open Water Source