Australian toddlers and other young children frolicking in the shallow waters of Bulcock Beach in Queensland were saved by a foreign national on vacation from an attacking dusky whaler shark.

What could have turned into a grimly and bloody encounter was otherwise averted when Paul Marshallsea, a 62-year -ld British national who is on a month-long vacation with his family, waded into the shallow waters, dragged by the tail the 6½ft dusky whaler shark and then dragged it to deeper water.

The father of three from South Wales got startled when he heard people screaming "Shark!"

"My instincts took over and I just grabbed the shark by the tail," Mr Marshallsea said, stressing the area where the shark went into was "shallow for about five or six yards."

"A lot of babies and toddlers splash about there. It could have been very nasty."

Officials at Bulcock Beach, Queensland suspected the killer must might be sick that's why it entered the shallow waters.

"Her two-feet-long babies were swimming through my legs. They must have got lost and marooned by the shallow sand-banks and got beached," Mr Marshallsea said.

"I got hold of his tail and pulled with all my might to get the shark back into deep enough water, so that the poor thing could survive."

"I know it was dangerous but it almost looked beautiful - you have got to have respect for a beautiful animal. People might say it was a stupid thing to do, but when you see a beautiful beast struggling to survive up close and personal you somehow tend to respect it and want to help it."

"We don't recommend manhandling sharks but this gentleman did a great job," a coast guard at Bulcock Beach, Queensland said.