A viral TikTok showing sharks and an alligator swimming in the same South Carolina creek has left viewers stunned at the meeting of two predators.
Tourist Gina Athans from Chicago captured the jaw-dropping display Monday while enjoying a family dinner at Skull Creek Dockside in Hilton Head.
“My family and I had just sat down to order our drinks when one of the managers came up to us and mentioned that there were sharks and an alligator out on the boat dock,” Athans told The Island Packet. “My first thought was ‘there’s no way they’re hanging out in the water together.’”
Athans and her family made their way outside, and were shocked to find five lemon sharks and an alligator poking its head out from under the dock in Skull Creek. She nervously filmed the encounter, which has since reeled in over 3.8 million views on TikTok.
“I’ve been visiting Hilton Head since I was 12 years old, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Athans added.
Tourist Gina Athans said there were five lemon sharks and an alligator in the creek (TikTok/@ginaroseathans)
Skull Creek’s brackish waters, a mix of both fresh and saltwater, allow sharks and alligators to cross paths, Morgan Hart, the Alligator Project Leader for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, told The Island Packet.
The two predators usually coexist peacefully if similar in size, with the real danger coming from humans approaching or feeding them. Therefore, it’s best to watch them from a safe distance, she told the outlet.
Still, this particular video was too scary for some viewers to consider normal.
Viewers took issue with people, including children, leaning on the wooden railing to watch the animals below (TikTok/@ginaroseathans)
“Now I have to Google if sharks eat alligators or alligators eat sharks,” one person commented.
“First time I’ve ever worried about the well-being of an alligator,” another said.
A third admitted, “I used to comfort myself with the fact that alligators live in fresh water and sharks live in salt water therefore both would never be an issue…this has crushed that.”
Athans’ video also captured people, including children, observing the animal and leaning on a wooden railing, which frightened many commenters.
“Y’all putting too much trust in that wooden railing!!!” one viewer wrote.
“All those little scrumptious appetizers hanging off the dock railing,” another said.
A third asked, “Remember that scene in Jaws when the pier collapsed into the shark-infested water because too many people were standing on it…”
