Alarming footage showed the moment a shark circled mere feet away from a dad and child swimming off a beach in Alabama.
The shark was spotted by Jackson Silvio, a 15-year-old teen monitoring shark activity in the Gulf of Mexico, swimming near beachgoers in Orange Beach.
One view of the video, Storyful reported, remarked that the man and his child did not "look bothered" by the nearby predator.
Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism said "shark sightings are a regular occurrence along the Alabama Gulf Coast".
Dr Sean Powers, head of the University of South Alabama’s Marine and Environmental Sciences Department, said: "Alabama has a diversity of sharks.
"The Gulf has about 50 species with about 20 to 30 species that beachgoers and fishermen can encounter. Most of those are really small and only pose an aggravation to the fishermen."
It is not clear what type of shark spooked the swimmers, but the most common beast in the area is the Atlantic sharpnose.
The number of sharks near the shore is likely to increase around June time as temperatures warm up.
“Even the small ones will be offshore in more stable temperatures until the water warms up, and they come inshore to feed,” Dr Powers said.
“Then, when it gets too hot in August and September, they kind of retreat. They are really temperature sensitive. They don’t like it too cold or too hot.”
Signs of a healthy ecosystem won't be much of a comfort for nervous swimmers, even though Alabama is low on the list of shark attacks in the US according to data.
Florida Museum's International Shark Attack File said of the 41 cases of unprovoked bites in the US last year, there was only one fatality and it was in Hawaii.
Just one of the unprovoked attacks came in Alabama.
Shark country in the US is considered to be Florida and the Sunshine State recorded 16 unprovoked bites in 2022, far ahead of the next nearest state, New York, which had eight.
The museum said: "The total number of unprovoked shark bites worldwide is extremely low, given the number of people participating in aquatic recreation each year.
"Fatality rates have been declining for decades, reflecting advances in beach safety, medical treatment and public awareness."
In May, a 22-year-old woman from Connecticut was left in a serious condition after she was bitten by a shark while on holiday in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force said in a statement: "Based on preliminary reports, at around 3.07pm today (Wednesday, May 24), an employee of a Resort located in the vicinity of the Leeward Marina, Providenciales, called the Police Control Room requesting ambulance assistance.
"The employee indicated that the female victim had her leg bitten off by a shark."