GALVESTON, Texas — Beach visitors are on alert after a hammerhead shark, thought to be at least 11 feet long, was reportedly spotted in the San Luis pass this week.
A video of the shark was uploaded to TikTok and has been viewed more than two million times.
You might think the people at the pass would be terrified after seeing the video of the shark, however, most of them are not.
Sarah and Chris Russell from Lake Jackson were fishing at the pass Friday night.
“That out there is a school of bait fish,” Sarah Russell says as she points to the water. “They’re smaller fish and something behind it is making it move. So something is trying to eat it.”
Some viewers have expressed alarm that the shark in the video was so close to the shore.
But for the Russells, they say they’re not fazed.
“We’re in the ocean,” Sarah Russell said. “Like, what do you expect to be out there?”
Among the Russells’ catches was a baby shark that was just a tiny fraction of the size of the large hammerhead thought to be swimming nearby.
“You can’t just come to the beach and think no sharks exist just because the water is pretty,” she said. “No, you’re the visitor, they exist everywhere.”
Others who’d seen the video told us they are looking out for the shark.
They’re still wading in the water, but their eyes are certainly wide open.