Dog shark spotted swimming in Surf City street after storm

It was stormy this weekend in the northeastern United States. Torrential rains, amplified by powerful winds, hit several major cities including New York, Boston and Philadelphia. In the small New Jersey town of Surf City (around 1,300 inhabitants), these weather events gave rise to a rather unexpected scene. A shark was indeed seen in the middle of a street, swimming calmly with the current.

A resident of the town north of Atlantic City was able to film the scene with his phone as the shark walked up the alley leading to his house. The video, transmitted to the local channel News12, quickly made the rounds on social networks, raising many questions. “At first we thought it was a fish, which would have been cool already. But a baby shark is even better,” commented Drew Procaccino, accompanied by his partner when he witnessed this strange scene.

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dog shark

It must be said that the water reached up to 1m20 in Surf City during this stormy episode. Furthermore, the animal was identified as a dog shark, or dogfish in French, by Doctor Greg Skomal, shark researcher at the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. Questioned by ABC News, the latter indicated that this type of shark is very present on the east coast of the United States at this time. Last August, around thirty of them were found dead in the same place.

The dogfish is known to be relatively harmless to humans with its flat teeth used to crush its prey, mainly molluscs, crustaceans and other fish. It is generally between 80 and 100 centimeters long and often moves in groups, like dogs, hence its American name. According to Surfer magazine, he was able to end up in the neighborhood thanks to the storm, which raised the level of Barnegat Bay and submerged part of the coastal area. The shark was thus swimming in the middle of a residential area invaded by the waves, and not in a simple puddle formed by precipitation.