'Scare of a Lifetime' as Woman Spots Mysterious Large Creature at Beach

A video showing a "creature" in the water after a woman unknowingly swam near what appeared to be a shark in Florida has gone viral on TikTok.

The footage of the sighting, captured on June 5 at Lake Worth Beach in Palm Beach County in Florida's southeastern region, was shared by @curly.travel.magic.

The TikTok user from New York City was visiting her sister and nephews in West Palm Beach, she told Newsweek. The video has garnered 1.3 million views since it was posted on June 7.

The video was taken just days before two shark attacks were reported in northwest Florida—one in Watersound and another in Fort Walton—that left three people injured within a span of one and a half hours on June 7.

A message overlaid on the viral clip says: "Got the scare of a lifetime yesterday in West Palm Beach, Florida."

A view of crashing waves is shown in the video with a "creature" moving in the distance and its fin poking out above the water, which "may be some type of large fish," according to a caption shared with the post.

The caption said that an hour before the video was taken, the family "saw a dark shadow in the water" swimming near her.

"The water was calm and clear when we got there," the poster told Newsweek. "We were having fun and swimming. My sister, all of a sudden, said sternly that a shark just passed behind me. My boyfriend said he saw it, too. It was large and dark. It was underwater, not quite with the fin out."

The fish in the video, which "a lot of people say it's a tarpon," was seen about one hour after "my sister told me a shark passed behind me," she said.

"I was in shock, and we all moved out of the water to the shore. My legs were literally wobbling. I did not expect this. My greatest fear at the beach is usually rip currents, not so much sharks," she said.

According to the International Shark Attack File of the Florida Museum, there have been 928 confirmed unprovoked shark attacks in the United States reported from 1837 to the present.

According to the museum, "the actual numbers of shark attacks certainly are going up each decade because of increasing numbers of bathers in the water, but there is no indication that there is any change in the per capita rate of attack."

Most attacks take place in "nearshore waters, typically inshore of a sandbar or between sandbars where sharks feed and can become trapped at low tide," the museum says. Places with steep drop-offs are also likely spots for shark attacks, with sharks congregating there "because their natural food items also congregate in these areas."

'A Lot of People Got Scared'

A message overlaid on the viral video says: "We were playing in the water when someone yelled 'shark'!..."

The poster told Newsweek that "most people got out of the water," with perhaps a few adults staying in. "There is a fishing pier very close to where we were, so we think that is something that attracts sharks and other fish because of the bait," she said.

She and her family later went back in the water but remained close to shore and "were on the lookout," with the water level just coming to their knees.

However, they got out of the water again after the "creature" was spotted in the video, which "had a fin, and a lot of people got scared," she told Newsweek.

According to the caption shared with the post, several "thought it looked like a shark," and "other sea creatures" were seen swimming around it.

"It was a very scary feeling. We all got out of the water and then saw the creature in this video that may be some type of large fish, but we are not sure. Whatever the case may be, we were scared of the possibility of sharks nearby," the caption said.

"My legs have never wobbled so much," a message overlaid on the video said. "I found out it's really hard to run in water. Well, I'm alive. Another day in Florida."

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