A trip to the beach is an opportunity to have some fun in the sun.
But there is always danger lurking in the ocean.
And a scary video caught swimmers at a Florida beach unaware of this bad problem.
Drone video captures swimmers unaware of a shark near them
A pair of snorkelers at a beach in Stuart, Florida were enjoying a day in the ocean exploring a reef when a six-foot shark began to swim near them.
They were completely oblivious to the fact that one of nature’s fiercest predators was near them.
Photographer Michael Busch captured the terrifying scene with video footage from a drone.
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The shark swims within arm’s reach of one of the snorkelers who never noticed it.
It looked like the shark was leaving the area, but it did another pass by the snorkelers who were still unaware.
At one point it looked like the pair were talking to each other while the shark was circling them.
The video ends with the shark swimming away from the shore while the snorkelers are having fun, unaware of what went down.
“It appeared to be about six feet long and got within five feet of them,” Busch told Storyful.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says there are 13 distinct species of sharks that can be found near the shore in the Sunshine State.
A brush with danger they will never know
Busch recalled being helpless when he discovered what was happening from his drone.
“I don’t think they ever noticed it,” Busch said. “I wished that I had a speaker on my drone to warn them.”
He noted that the snorkelers were still in shallow water on the beach side of the reef when the shark approached them.
“It approached them several times, getting within five feet,” Busch stated. “Since they were on the calmer side of the reef, they probably didn’t even consider one on that side.”
He pointed out that a breaking wave sent the shark retreating one of the times it approached the snorkelers.
The snorkelers were in water that was less than waist-deep in the video.
Commenters on social media were shocked at the scene that unfolded in the video with the blissfully unaware snorkelers.
“Waist deep is probably the most dangerous spot because the churning water makes legs look like prey. Lucky snorkelers,” a social media user wrote.
Jupiter is located on Florida’s Atlantic Coast which is one of the world’s shark bite hotspots.
New Smyrna Beach, which is two hours north of Jupiter, was named the “Shark Bite Capital of the World” by the Florida Museum’s International Shark Attack File.
Sharks get closer to the shore from April through October with the warmer weather.
They move closer inland looking for baitfish, which happens to be when the number of people on the beaches is increasing.
Sharks have terrible eyesight and mistake humans for their typical prey.
The snorkelers in Jupiter will likely never realize how close they came to a shark during their fun in the sun.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
