Woopsies! A Shark Really Did Swim Through a Flooded Jersey Street
Woopsies! A shark was spotted swimming through a flooded New Jersey neighborhood after a powerful September nor’easter turned streets in Surf City into temporary waterways.
The surreal footage shows the shark’s fin cutting through murky floodwater as it moves past homes and driveways on Long Beach Island. A woman behind the camera can be heard reacting in disbelief as the animal heads in her direction before eventually moving back toward the bay.
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Surf City Becomes Shark City
A powerful nor’easter flooded Long Beach Island badly enough that a small shark ended up swimming through a residential street.
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Surf City Flooding Was Severe Enough to Bring Marine Life Inland
The sighting happened as the nor’easter hammered the Jersey Shore with coastal flooding and damaging winds. Surf City recorded a 74 mph wind gust, while roads across Long Beach Island became flooded and in some places impassable.
ABC News reporting identified the animal as a smooth dogfish, a small shark common in Mid-Atlantic waters. White shark researcher Dr. Greg Skomal described the species as small and harmless, taking a little of the Jaws out of the otherwise completely ridiculous sight of a shark swimming past somebody’s driveway.
Floodwater in parts of Surf City reportedly reached several feet deep during the storm, giving the displaced shark enough water to make its unexpected suburban detour before heading back toward Barnegat Bay.
So yes: for at least a few minutes, Surf City really did become Shark City.
Shark Swims Through Surf City, New Jersey Floodwaters During Nor’easter
Watch the News 12 New Jersey footage of the small shark moving through a flooded Surf City street during the September 2026 nor’easter.
Source: ABC News, News 12 New Jersey, FOX Weather and 6abc Philadelphia.
