More than a few beachgoers in Florida were in for a startling experience within the past week. In two separate incidents, people recorded massive sharks swimming within spitting distance of people — and one of those sharks exhibited a particularly scary-looking foraging behavior.
One of the sharks was seen swimming around the shallows near Perdido Key on Sunday, July 2. According to WEAR News, a marine biologist identified the shark as a hammerhead based on its dorsal fin. Jennifer Ward captured a video of the shark, which zig-zagged quickly back and forth in the shallows — a common foraging behavior of some shark species. The thrashing shark prompted at least several people to scream and flee to shore, though no one was attacked.
The other recent incident occurred on Monday, July 3 in Navarre Beach, near Pensacola, according to ABC6. It was filmed and shared on Facebook by Cristy Mccallie Cox. In that case, a shark swam startlingly close to a mass of frolickers, as folks from shore shouted at them to “get out of the water.” Field & Stream has not been able to confirm the species in that incident, which you can see for yourself below.
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Shark sightings are relatively rare on shallow beaches—and attacks are even rarer. That said, according to CBS News, shark sightings are most common during the month of June, so seeing them in early July is not particularly unusual. Though in these instances, the sharks didn’t attack anyone, Field & Stream recently reported on a startling rash of shark attacks in New York State.
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