A vacationer’s video of several hammerhead sharks swimming around beachgoers off Florida’s coast went viral after it was filmed over Memorial Day weekend.
The video was captured in Pensacola by Jacqueline Lesso of Alabama, according to Fox13 Tampa Bay.
In the clip, the screams of children and adults can be heard as fins emerge in a shallow area near several bathers, rafters and boaters.
Most of the beachgoers sound more excited than scared. Laughter erupts as a few people follow the sharks gliding beneath the surface of the clear blue-green waters. Some swimmers move toward the animals.
“Aw hell, there’s three! One’s right there! Four!” a woman’s voice can be heard shouting.
As the sharks swim by an enormous yellow raft shared by three women, one of the women laughs, another appears nervous, and a third simply smiles.
Lesso told the TV station she was boating with friends on May 29 when she spotted the hammerheads.
There are several species of hammerhead shark. The great hammerhead shark is considered dangerous and ranks seventh in unprovoked attacks on humans, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Another species, scalloped hammerheads, are also considered dangerous “and have been linked with many unprovoked bites on humans,” the FWC says.
