A dogfish shark was spotted swimming through a flooded New Jersey residential street during this weekend’s violent nor’easter, prompting a local resident to capture the surreal scene on video.
The footage, recorded Saturday in Surf City, shows the small shark’s dorsal fin cutting through murky floodwater near a woman’s driveway on Long Beach Island. Barnegat Bay had overflowed into the neighborhood, leaving some areas submerged under as much as four feet of water.
“Is that a little shark?” a woman asks in the clip. “Oh my God, he’s coming this way.”
Dr. Greg Skomal, a white shark expert with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, identified the visitor as a dogfish, a species common to the region that lacks sharp teeth. The shark had swum right up to the resident’s home, navigating the inundated street as the storm pushed bay water deep into the community.
The nor’easter hammered the East Coast with winds reaching 70 mph, knocking out power for thousands of households and businesses across multiple states. Coastal communities bore the brunt of the damage, with flooding transforming familiar streets into temporary waterways.
Surf City sits on Long Beach Island, a narrow barrier island off the central New Jersey coast that is particularly vulnerable to storm surge and bay flooding. Saturday’s conditions were severe enough to draw comparisons to past major weather events from longtime residents.
The storm’s second round continued to pound the region after an initial wave of destruction, including a separate incident in New York City where a falling tree struck two young children. Officials across the tri-state area warned residents to avoid floodwaters, which can conceal dangerous debris, downed power lines, and unexpected wildlife.
The shark footage quickly circulated online, with viewers marveling at the unusual sight of a marine predator navigating a suburban driveway. For the homeowner, the encounter offered a startling reminder of how thoroughly the storm had reshaped her surroundings.
Dogfish sharks are among the most abundant shark species in the world and are frequently found in the waters off the Mid-Atlantic coast. Unlike their larger relatives, they pose little threat to humans, feeding primarily on smaller fish and invertebrates.
The weekend storm represented the latest in a series of severe weather events to test coastal infrastructure and emergency response systems. Recovery efforts were expected to continue as crews worked to restore electricity and clear roads of debris and standing water.
The nor’easter system was forecast to maintain its grip on the region through the immediate period ahead, with additional flooding and wind damage possible before conditions finally improved.