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Watch this shark circle swimmers at popular Alabama beach
Shark sightings aren't uncommon along the Gulf Coast, but that doesn't make them less scary.
ORANGE BEACH, Ala. - A drone on the lookout for sharks in the Gulf of Mexico captured the moment a small shark circled a man and child who were swimming at an Alabama beach.
Drone video from 15-year-old Jackson Silvio shows the man and child going further out into the water at Orange Beach on May 29 as the shark follows and eventually swims out to sea. At one point, the shark was within a few feet of the swimmers.
It’s not uncommon to spot sharks near the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico, according to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism. There are typically more shark sightings in June than any other month.
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The Gulf of Mexico has 50 species of sharks. The 20-30 types of sharks people may encounter in the Gulf are small, biologists say, and most of them are only an "aggravation" to boaters and anglers.
The most common shark species in the Gulf is the Atlantic sharpnose, which grows to a maximum length of about 3 and a half feet.