Coast Guard Shoots at Shark Stalking Swimmers

Every week is Shark Week for the United States Coast Guard ... a shark was stalking a ton of swimmers in the ocean, and a hail of bullets saved the day!!!

Check out this video from the Coast Guard Cutter Kimball deployed near Hawaii ... there are 40 crew members swimming just off the boat when all of a sudden a massive shark surfaces and swim towards the swimmers.

Petty Officer 1st Class Samuel Cintron springs into action ... the maritime enforcement specialist -- pretty sweet job title -- takes aim and fires several rounds at the shark, which the Coast Guard says was between 6 and 8 feet long!

It's pretty wild ... the bullets hit the water scarily close to the swimmers, as they scramble to avoid the shark and swim back to safety on the boat.

The scene is straight outta "Jaws" and it comes with a happy ending ... all 40 crew members safely cleared the water and the shark appeared uninjured as it swam back into the depths.

This time they did NOT need a bigger boat ... thanks to the Coast Guard.