A marine animal burst among the bathers in Miami Beach last Monday, causing a stampede towards the shore, in an incident captured on video and posted on TikTok by the user @maibelmorales3, identified as Maibel, a Cuban resident in the United States.
The text overlay on the clip said it all: "This just happened, here's the location." The images show crystal-clear turquoise waters, shallow and with a bright blue sky, typical conditions for a beach day in Miami.
According to the description of the incident, "some said it was a small shark and others that it was a tarpon; in any case, the bathers jumped out of the water in fright."
The confusion between both species is common along the southern coast of Florida. The tarpon (Megalops atlanticus) is a large, silver fish known for its swift movements that frequents the coastal waters of Miami Beach, particularly near the surface, and can easily be mistaken for a shark from a distance or by inexperienced swimmers.
Experts from Florida Gulf Coast University have noted in previous incidents that sharks come close to shore precisely because they are chasing schools of tarpon, which brings them into swimming areas very near to bathers.
In a previous case documented by a Miami firefighter, the filmmaker himself admitted that he initially thought the animals were "a tarpon or something like that" before identifying four shark-like animals near South Beach.
Los avistamientos de tiburones en Miami Beach no son infrecuentes. In September 2024, a shark was spotted swimming near the shore frente al Hotel Setai; In July 2024, several sharks were sighted en las playas de Miami; y In August 2023, sharks frightened bathers en la misma zona.
The most notable event occurred on June 11, 2020, when four sharks were spotted just 20 meters from the shore at South Beach, the first day of the beaches reopening after the lockdown due to the pandemic.
Florida historically leads in shark sightings and bites in the United States. In 2025, it recorded 11 unprovoked bites, accounting for 44% of the national total, although none were fatal. In Miami-Dade, one unprovoked bite was reported that year.
By the end of May 2026, the tracker Tracking Sharks reported three shark bites nationwide, with no fatalities recorded.
The researcher Catherine Macdonald from the University of Miami has previously pointed out that the increased presence of sharks in the region during the warm months is normal and typically does not cause alarm, although this does not prevent every new viral sighting from renewing the scare among those who enjoy the beaches of South Florida.
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