Gulf Coast beachgoers capture second reported shark sighting in the last week
As tourists swarm beach towns on the Gulf Coast, a few photographers have discovered other, lesser seen visitors.
Gulf Bay Photography on Thursday morning captured footage of what appears to be a shark off the coast of Pensacola Beach.
This isn’t the first time in the past week beachgoers got a surprise visit.
On July 3, Arkansas couple Jodi and Andrew Jobe captured another video of what appears to be a shark just off the shore of Orange Beach.
While scientists say shark numbers are back on the rise after the population fell rapidly due to overfishing in the 1960s, the rise of video footage of shark sightings, often captured on people’s cell phones or other technology like drones, is also altering people’s perception.
“Everyone having a phone with a camera now … what was once just a fish story, is now broadcast through social media, inflating public perspective,” Robert Hueter, a shark researcher based in Sarasota, Fla., told AL.com previously.
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