POMPANO BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Dozens were out enjoying the warm water at the beach until they experienced shock from seeing a crocodile in a South Florida ocean.
Plenty of people decided to catch some sun on the sand in Pompano Beach on Monday when they spotted the reptile in the water near the pier.
Cell phone video caught the crocodile swimming closer to the shore.
“I saw a shadow and I thought ‘Man, what the heck?’ I ain’t ever seen a fish like that’,” said David, who was on the pier at the time.
On-lookers like David and others on the structure, saw the crocodile around 8 a.m. on Monday.
“His head about like this and you see his big ol’ snout,” David continued.
They shouted for swimmers to get out of the water when shortly after the “No swim” flags came up.
Pompano Beach Ocean Rescue made sure beachgoers stayed clear of the potential danger, while word of the spotting spread on-shore.
“That’s wild,” said one man. “I did see the video, I mean hey, this is their home, it’s expected. They’d be coming up to the people, people think it’s not true, but it’s true.”
One woman went down to see the action as soon as she heard.
“I came down to find it…” she said. “A little scary.”
Many heard about the incident but hadn’t seen the video yet.
“My God man, that’s bigger than me,” said another man.
Others couldn’t believe what they saw.
“Right here in Pompano? Come on, are you serious?” said another woman, reacting to the footage. “Oh my goodness.”
As the reptile hung around all day, enjoying the shoreline all to itself, some swore they’d never take a dip in the water again.
“With the crocodile? No more man, thanks for letting me know,” continued the woman.
Others felt validated for why they don’t usually dive in.
“Yeah I don’t really go in anyway, I just go in up to here,” a woman said as she pointed to her legs. “My husband goes in though, so he won’t go in today… We want all his limbs intact.”
A not-so-common spotting of a seawater crocodile had left an impression that would last a lifetime.
“I’ll never forget,” said David. “In any beach area, I’ve never seen one of these, I’ve seen alligators, just looked like a mini dinosaur.”
The “No swim” flag will remain up until the crocodile moves out of Pompano Beach, which experts said could take up to one or two days.
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