Shark spotted swimming down flooded Atlantic City street, ‘This storm is no joke’

Atlantic City, New Jersey, had a miserable weekend. A rare September nor’easter saw coastal flooding and beach erosion, with high tides, strong winds, and rain combining to push water into low-lying streets near the bay.

It topped out at the highest water levels since Hurricane Sandy in 2012, more than three feet above typical high tide. Fortunately, no deaths have been reported, though firefighters rescued nine adults (and one dog) from first-floor rooms at the Travel Inn and Sea Breeze motels. But, if video footage from an Atlantic City resident is anything to go by, the streets just got a little more lively.

Footage posted by Proud Socialist on X shows what appears to be a shark zipping through the Atlantic City streets, captioned, straightforwardly, “Shark on the streets of Atlantic City!” and, “There is a freaking shark on the streets of Atlantic City, New Jersey. This storm is no joke.”

Street Sharks in real life?

ABC News later reposted the footage, with a perplexed resident saying, “Is that a little shark?” and then, “He’s coming this way.” It should be underlined that the Atlantic City shark won’t be auditioning for a Jaws sequel anytime soon. ABC identified it as a dogfish shark, which generally top out at about three feet long.

This little guy won’t be troubling anyone caught in the floodwaters either, as they don’t attack humans and aren’t aggressive. This was even specifically identified as a Smooth Dogfish, so it doesn’t even have the venomous spine some dogfish have. Regardless, a suburban street is no place for a shark, so we can only hope it found its way back into the ocean before the waters withdrew.

As per PhillyVoice, the storm is currently weakening and though the weather remains miserable today it’s expected to clear by Tuesday. A Coastal Flood Advisory remains in effect for minor flooding (up to about half a foot in low-lying areas) during the morning high tide cycle. In addition, some roads are still flooded, first responders have said they’re dealing with access issues, and the state of emergency for the county remains in effect.

The consequences for Atlantic City may be long-lasting. Casino.org (reporting on this as many boardwalk casinos were hit) quotes local officials describing this as a “beach eater”, saying there’s been “severe” dune and beach loss. This has caused severe drop-offs, resulting in them being closed amid intense erosion.

But Atlantic City has been hit harder before and bounced back strong. Though, admittedly, most times citizens didn’t have to contend with sharks roaming their streets.