Shark Approaches Woman And Dog Walking On the Beach

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Martha’s Vineyard can be a peaceful place for a beachside walk. But resident Amanda Borland and her dog generated some intense interest from one of the area’s maritime residents, a shark, during their morning walk.

Borland was walking with her dog when they decided to play fetch and look for sea glass. So far, everything sounds just as picturesque as a movie. But as the local news station reported, Borland quickly noticed a shark approaching in the water nearby, taking great interest in them.

The video, taken by Borland from the beach, shows the shark getting closer and closer to the shore. We can see its dorsal fin and a large portion of its body.

At first, the shark turns back to the open water. Borland said that she expected him to keep swimming away. But the shark continued swimming closer until he was almost on the beach.

Her dog, Hamish, can be heard in the background of the video barking. Borland told the news reporter that she and Hamish were in shock as they watched the shark approach the beach. Sharks, of course, live in water and can’t come onto land. But watching the shark so determined to make it onto the sand had to be very eerie.

Borland said in the report that she wondered if the shark thought Hamish was a seal. Seals can bark, and the sound is similar to a dog’s. In the video, Hamish barks at the shark. It is possible that the shark mistook the sound for a seal nearby and was looking for a meal. The video shows the shark thrashing in the shallow water near the beach. Eventually, it returns to water deep enough to let it swim away.

The news reporter with WCVB in Boston added that an expert recognized the behavior as a possible brain infection that could cause the shark to become disoriented in the water. What looks like predatory behavior, intent on getting to Borland or her dog, might be the shark confused about where it is and unintentionally beaching itself.