Tag: Florida Keys

Shark attack footage from shore stirring, but don’t be misled

Florida travel company shares footage of tiger shark predation effort as warning to Keys visitors. But shark was never near Florida.

Florida Keys Travel, for the second time recently, has shared footage showing a tiger shark chasing a turtle practically onto the sand. The latest Instagram post cautioned:

“Think again before you go knee-deep in the Florida Keys — you never know what might be lurking beneath the surface!”

In the footage, posted below, the shark nearly strands on the beach before retreating safely back into deeper water.

“Welcome to the keys,” one follower remarked.

While Floridians expressed gratitude for the warning, the post is misleading.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DFLFhQKuRrn/

The footage was actually captured last January in Western Australia. I interviewed the photographer, Ruth Gaw, after seeing her Facebook post.

Gaw told me that the turtle escaped and that a large stingray also “got chased in, but I had stopped recording when it happened.”

She was observing from the beach at Monkey Mia, which is famous for its white sand and abundant marine life. Gaw spotted the shark approaching as her husband Derek and son Arran were fishing for mackerel.

Click here for the full story.

Watch: Tiger shark hunts inches from beach in ‘on-your-toes’ moment

Footage showing tiger shark’s dramatic turtle hunt is shared by Florida travel company as a warning, but it was not captured off Florida.

Florida Keys Travel this week shared dramatic footage showing a tiger shark chasing a turtle to the beach as something to ponder the “next time you think about visiting the Florida Keys.”

The company added: “The wild beauty of the ocean always keeps you on your toes in paradise.”

While tiger sharks can be encountered off Florida, the footage was captured last January off Western Australia. Photographer Ruth Gaw told FTW Outdoors that the shark measured 8 feet and that the hunt was unsuccessful.

“The turtle got away, and the shark didn’t stay much longer,” Gaw said. “A large stingray also got chased in, but I had stopped recording when it happened.”

Click here to read the back story and view Gaw’s Facebook Reel. The Florida Keys Travel video is posted below.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DD0UPP1Orze/?igsh=NjZiM2M3MzIxNA%3D%3D

Tiger sharks, which can measure to about 18 feet, are found in tropical and temperate waters around the world.

From the Florida Museum: “Tiger sharks are second only to the white shark in terms of the number of reported attacks on humans.

“Tiger sharks are often curious and unaggressive when encountered yet are one of the three species most commonly implicated in shark attacks and fatalities and should be treated with extreme caution and a great deal of respect.”

Crocodile causes a ‘pool emergency’; neighbors shocked

Neighbors heard Maria Crego making a 911 call and became curious as to what was happening, so they came over to see for themselves.

When Ramon and Maria Crego went outside to take their two dogs for a walk after dinner, Ramon noticed a ripple in the water of their pool and did a double take. “What is that, a crocodile?” Ramon thought.

Sure enough, a crocodile had made its way up a launch ramp from the bay and into the backyard of their home in Hammer Point in Tavernier in the Florida Keys. It walked straight toward the pool and climbed in.

Surveillance cameras caught footage of the intrusion a week ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgmGB8FCJSA

 

“We have small dogs, which we were taking outside with us for a walk,” Ramon Crego told USA Today/For The Win Outdoors. “So I told my wife to take them back inside and go call fish and wildlife.

“My wife called 911, and as we are Cuban, we are kind of loud. Our neighbors heard my wife telling the 911 operator that ‘our emergency is in the pool!’”

Also on FTW Outdoors: When angry alligator charges, fisherman falls down as he tries to get away

So some of the neighbors came over, curious to see this emergency.

“They were all shocked, but found this incident very amusing,” Ramon said. “So we had friends and family on the balcony.”

The Monroe County Police and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission responded quickly.

“It took him about an hour and a half to shoo him back into the bay,” Ramon said. “He was verifying with his supervisor what he should do, as the croc really liked our pool and didn’t seem to want to leave.

“We thought he would take him away, but he said no, ‘he lives here, and will come back anyway.’

“We hope not.”

Photos courtesy of ViralHog and Slava Petrov/Creative Commons.