Photo: Getty Images
Even in Florida, this is something you don't see every day! If you were near the Jupiter Inlet this weekend, you may have been witness to an unusual sight in the ocean. If you missed it, fortunately, a local photographer captured a now viral video of the phenonmena.
According to local aerial photographer, Nick Serrano, he and his girlfriend went to the beach on Saturday (December 17, 2022) hoping to get some footage of migrating blacktip sharks.
However, they were even more shocked to instead, witness what Serrano described as an 8-to-10-foot alligator swimming in the ocean north of the Jupiter Inlet on Jupiter island.
In the caption for the video posted to Serrano's Instagram account, he wrote, "I've lived along the Treasure Coast and Palm Beaches for 18 years and have never seen an alligator break the inlet...A once-in-a-lifetime experience I'll be sure to remember."
The reason the sighting was so unusual is because alligators typically prefer swimming in fresh water.
Although, only a couple of months ago, a 12-foot alligator was spotted on the surf in Delray Beach.
According to The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), "alligators can swim in and tolerate salt water for a short period of time, but it's not their preferred habitat. They are common in freshwater lakes, slow-moving rivers, brackish water and their associated wetlands."