Officials closed down a Florida beach due to a rare sighting — a crocodile swimming near the shore.
King told the outlet that the woman who spotted the giant reptile yelled to get the lifeguards' attention, allowing the guards to help their colleagues and others swimming near the crocodile to get out of the water safely.
“The lifeguards are trained for any emergency like a shark or runaway boat, but in this case, it was a crocodile,” King said. “They had never experienced something like this before, but they knew what to do.”
A video of the crocodile’s ocean appearance shows the animal swimming through blue waters beside and under a pier on Pompano Beach.
Lifeguards decided to close the beach to swimming while the crocodile loitered in the water, reopening the area on Tuesday after seeing no signs of the crocodile near the 3-mile expanse of beach.
TMX
While a crocodile in the ocean may seem like a rare sight, University of Florida endangered species researcher Frank Mazzotti toldNBC 6 South Floridathat it is common for crocodiles in Florida to swim out of swamps into inlets and the ocean.
He added that it wasn’t “unusual” for the reptile to show up at the pier because crocodiles are “attracted to structures.”
“Something like the pier will be a place for them to hide, a place for food to eat, they do that, and it’s not an unusual behavior,” said Mazzotti, who also noted that American crocodiles, which are native to Florida, are more docile than other breeds.
“They’re not aggressive, and what they eat are crabs [and] fish,” the researcher explained. “Mammals like us are not on their diet.” Though he said that if someone comes upon a crocodile, they should “calmly move away.”
Mazzotti told NBC 6 South Florida that there are about 2,000 American Crocodiles in South Florida, with many living near Miami-Dade and Monroe county.
Large Crocodile swimming near pier at Pompano Beach, Florida.TMX
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TheFlorida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissionlists the American crocodile as an endangered species.
The agency added that American crocodiles are a “shy and reclusive species.”
source: people.com
