Heart-stopping video footage shows a group of hammerhead sharks circling boaters and swimmers in shallows of the Gulf of Mexico off the Alabama coast over the weekend.
About six hammerheads dodged between power boats and got too close for comfort with a few swimmers near Robinson Island in Orange Beach on June 10, 4WWL reported.
Cellphone video from the incident shows the creatures gliding swiftly just beneath the clear surface, prompting several beachgoers to seek refuge in the nearby boats.
“We were in the water on the north side of the boat and all of a sudden, we heard people screaming ‘shark’ and see people scrambling to get on their boats,” witness Paul Hubble told 4WWL.
“There was 4 to 6 of them and they’re just kind of thrashing around in the water, chasing bait fish.”
Unlike his fellow sun worshippers, however, Hubble stayed in the water.
“If I had known my fiancee was filming me, I would have knelt down and let them slurk around,” he joked to WALA about the experience.
“I’ve never seen that, every weekend for years I’ve come out and I’ve never seen sharks come up like that,” he added.
“I think everybody needs to know that when we go down there, we’re in their world. So they live there. That happens so rare. People need to know it’s a fun place to go, you need to keep going. That’s their world.”
Dr. Kelly Boyle, marine biologist at the University of New Orleans, told 4WWL that hammerheads are common in the Gulf of Mexico, but said they generally do not pose a risk to swimmers.
“They’re not interested in humans really,” Boyle said.
“They’re interested in smaller fishes. So, it’s good to see them and give them their respect.”
The Robinson Island hammerhead encounter came just one day before beachgoers in Destin, Florida were shocked to see a black bear paddling in the waves.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission later said the youngster may have just left its mother’s care, and was trying to scope barrier islands for food.