On the water, you never know what you’ll find, but one group of boaters got a major shock when they discovered a puppy, lost and defenseless.

Thankfully, they came to the dog’s rescue and carried him back to land, where he is now safe.

A small white puppy was struggling in the water when a group of friends who were out on the ocean in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, discovered it.

One of the boat’s passengers, Bryn Crowell, told WSVN, “I noticed something in the water and at first I was thinking, like, ‘it sorta looks like a dog’.” “It occurred to me a split second later that it was a dog.”

They had no choice but to assist the unfortunate canine. The dog was pulled onto the boat by Dylan Berian, another boater, who dove into the sea.

Bryn recorded the rescue and posted it in a now-viral TikTok video with almost 12 million views:

Bryn told The Dodo, “You could tell he just had the swim of his life.”

Despite being startled and wet, the dog was uninjured. He was still wearing all of his collars, indicating that he probably fell off a boat unintentionally.

“The dog warmed up to us instantly,” Dylan told WSVN. “As soon as it got in the boat it was shaking, but after about five minutes the dog calmed down and seemed quite happy to be on a stable boat rather than getting drowned by waves.”

It turned out that the dog, Zuko, had unintentionally fallen off the family boat. After a terrible adventure, the boats were able to contact the family and quickly bring them back to land where they could be reunited with their dog.

The owner of Zuko remarked, “I’m really thankful for them since they spared me from such a terrible heartbreak.”

Bryn told The Dodo, “We phoned and could tell that they were weeping and unhappy on the phone conversation. “When we brought Zuko back, we saw [his owners] hugging him and sobbing.”

Zuko’s accidental fall from the boat was terrible, but he is now well, and his family is determined to prevent a repeat of the incident. In a subsequent video, Bryn displayed a text message from the owners that showed Zuko wearing a brand-new life jacket.

Even if your dog is the finest swimmer around, ALWAYS use a life jacket when boating! penned Bryn.

We’re so glad this dog is safe! Thank you to these boaters for saving Zuko and helping to reunite him with his family!