Some beachgoers on Dauphin Island this past Sunday were startled to come across an alligator on the beach.

The reptile, appearing to be about 4-5 feet in length, was spotted at the west end of the island beach, according to Stacy Whitworth Rollins, who took a photo of the gator and posted it to social media.

While the sight of an alligator — typically freshwater creatures — on a beach is uncommon and certainly startling to beachgoers, it’s not altogether out of character, according to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab.

Alligators are known to frequent areas of the interior of Dauphin Island and, if hungry enough, will sneak into freshwater areas in search of crabs, sea turtles and even sharks.

Rollins, in fact, reported catching baby sharks in the same area where she photographed the alligator.

“Alligators are not unusual on Dauphin Island though they don’t tolerate salt water very well,” the sea lab said in an email to AL.com, “so if there’s one hanging out on the beach it may have wandered over from the freshwater ponds or made its way following a rainfall event (when the water was lower salinity).”

In the past, Dauphin Island officials have flown a purple beach flag, which signifies “other danger” in the water, when an alligator has been spotted on or near the beach.

It wasn’t immediately known if the purple flag was flown Sunday.