A hammerhead shark was seen chasing tarpon near people at the beach in St Petersburg, Florida, on Thursday, June 6, 2024.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – A majestic hammerhead shark was in hot pursuit of a school of tarpon swimming near a St. Petersburg, Florida shoreline where people were enjoying the surf and sand.
Drone video captured by See Through Canoe Company on Thursday showed the afternoon hunt as the shark passed under a couple of paddleboarders.
“Some of the tarpons were swimming really close to the shoreline and through people in an effort to avoid the shark,” Michael McCarthy, owner of See Through Canoe Company, told FOX Weather.
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A hammerhead shark was seen chasing tarpon near people at the beach in St Petersburg, Florida, on Thursday, June 6, 2024.
(See Through Canoe)
Eventually, the shark managed to catch a nearly 5-foot tarpon. After taking a few bites out of the fish, it circled around for a few minutes before returning for a few more bites.
While the hammerhead was circling around the dead tarpon preparing to go back for more, a group of paddleboarders arrived.
“I don’t think they realized that they were paddling right over the hammerhead’s meal,” McCarthy added. “It was about 50 feet from shore.”
Fortunately, hammerheads are generally wary of people, and shark attacks are exceedingly uncommon.