'Is that a shark?' Shark spotted swimming through nor'easter-flooded street - USA Today
A resident captured a shark swimming up his flooded New Jersey street over the weekend as a powerful nor'easter slammed his Surf City neighborhood.
Drew Procaccino, who shot a video of the unexpected action on Sept. 26, told Storyful the shark swam past his home at about noon.
"Is that a shark?" someone asks in the video's background.
The big fish, its dorsal fin and tail skimming the water's surface, briefly disappeared up the driveway, and was later seen heading west toward Barnegat Bay, along the coast of Ocean County.
"At first we thought it was just a fish, which would have been cool, but a baby shark was even better," Procaccino said.
It was not immediately known how big the shark was.
ABC News reported shark researcher Dr. Greg Skomal, of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, identified the shark as a smooth dogfish.
Smooth dogfish sharks can grow up to 5 feet long, have fat blunt teeth and eat crustaceans, squid and other fish, according to the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey. The shark is "abundant off the Jersey Shore, and peak in recreational catches during late summer and fall."
Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.
