Video Catches Shark Swimming In Lake After Hurricane Helene

A family spotted a baby bull shark swimming in a southwest Florida lake following Hurricane Helene, NBC2 News reported Tuesday.

They spotted the young shark while walking along the rocky southeastern end of Lakes Regional Park, which is south of Fort Myers and just off US-41 & Gladiolus Drive, according to the outlet’s video report.

A video obtained by the outlet shows the shark swimming close to the rocky shore.

People told the outlet that floodwaters likely swept the shark into the lake.

“Alligators, snakes, you always see that [sic], but no shark,” someone told the outlet.

“I think that’s crazy,” said another.

Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) reportedly identified the shark as a baby bull shark. (RELATED: Video Shows Gargantuan Great White Shark Swimming Right By Fishermen)

Susannah Cogburn, a graduate student at the Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University, studies sharks.

“Bull sharks are really unique. They have this adaptation that allows them to live in fresh and saltwater environments,” she told the outlet.

Hurricane Helene passed through by Fort Myers, flooding nearby Lakes Park. When asked if the storm brought the shark to its unusual new home, Cogburn told the outlet, “It definitely could be related. Looking at the geography of where Lakes Park is, what probably happened is it came up through Hendry Creek. Especially with the extra floodwater—it could have pushed that shark there, and then when the water receded, it just stayed in Lakes Park.”

Hendry Creek ends at Lakes Park and empties into Estero Bay, which eventually leads to the Gulf of Mexico.

Although the shark may find its new freshwater habitat stressful, it should thrive so long as it has food, Cogburn told NBC2 News.

“Which, as the only shark in the lake, it seems like they should have an ample amount of food to feed on,” Cogburn added.

Hurricane Helene made landfall Sep. 26 as a Category 4 hurricane in Florida’s Big Bend region, after which it became a tropical storm and then a post-tropical cyclone as it swept northward.

The death toll has risen to 200 and the search for missing people continues, The Guardian reported.