Video: Homeless man saves stranded baby shark near popular San Clemente surf spot

Carson Grier snapped a photo of the man’s tent, posted just feet from a sign warning there was no camping allowed along the beachfront bluff overlooking a popular surf spot in San Clemente.

He was shocked the homeless man would still set up camp on a walkway with the view of the pier north of T-Street, just days after the city pushed to enforce anti-camping laws to keep homeless people from living in public areas around town.

But he was even more shocked at what unfolded next, when a baby shark washed up on the sand just below.

The man, who identified himself only as Kyle, sprang into action to save the struggling shark.

Grier was out checking the surf on Sunday, May 26, just as he does every morning.

He’s noticed Kyle at the same spot for about a month, he said. “He’s not heckling anyone. He’s not real agro,” said Grier, who said he doesn’t think homeless should be setting up camp near popular beaches, and at times has been homeless himself.

Grier was back in his car with his ill dog when he started recording from his phone as he watched Kyle sprint toward the sand.

He continued recording as the man took off his shoes and stood over the small shark, just over four-feet long, seemingly contemplating what to do as the shark was being washed to shore by waves.

The man grabbed a nearby plastic chair and tried to push the sea creature to where the waves could wash it back out, but that didn’t work, Grier said. Then, he grabbed the shark by the tail and gave it the tug it needed to get back into the water.

“He finally got it to swim away,” Grier said, adding that he believes it was a mako shark.

When the man returned to the bluff, Grier said, he thanked him for what he did, then asked him about his story, wondering why he was on the streets.

Kyle told him that it wasn’t his first time saving a sea creature — that one time he helped out a large sting ray that was on shore with a hook in its mouth. When he started patting the sting ray to stimulate it to start moving, he said a bunch of babies started popping out, which he also helped get into the ocean.

When asked why he was staying on the walkway, despite the designated camping area set up Friday for homeless on the north end of town, he said he was “testing them out” to see how long he could stay, Grier said.

By 10 a.m., Kyle’s tent was gone and he was nowhere to be found.

“I know this guy has a good head on his shoulders,” Grier said.

“There’s no reason he should be camping there. He’s definitely testing the system and he knows what he’s doing. That is annoying,” he said. “I want them to better themselves and do what’s right.”

But people have been focused on negative interactions with homeless people, so he figured he’d share a positive moment he caught on video.

“Maybe this could be the one thing that can lift him up and give him the support he needs,” Grier said. “I respect what he did as a human today. … I think this guy does have a chance.”