Great white shark lunges at a veteran as she leans from a boat to pet it off Tybee Island, Georgia

Jen, a female veteran crew member on a shark-tagging trip off Tybee Island, Georgia, reached over the side of a boat to stroke a great white shark the Knot Lucky Fishing team had hooked for tagging — and the shark whipped its head around and lunged at her arm. The non-profit's founder, former Ranger Jimmy Armel, said Jen was never in real danger because the crew had the shark secured throughout the tagging process.

Knot Lucky takes veterans, active-duty service members and their families on free fishing trips, naming each tagged shark after a fallen Ranger or service member.

The crew could not tag this particular shark safely and released it, saying 'the shark's safety and the crew's safety come first, every single time.'

'Everybody on the boat felt that one in their chest,' Knot Lucky wrote on Facebook, adding the lunge was 'a reminder of exactly what these animals are — beautiful, powerful, wild.'