A Florida woman is convinced that the shark she recently filmed on a drone was trying to send her a message in response.
Rebecca Puckett, a travel vlogger who posts under the handle @yogi.backpack, took to TikTok to share footage of the shark she spotted while flying her drone. “I was flying it in the Florida Keys,” Puckett told Newsweek. “It’s a pretty cool shot from the top and just caused me to pause and think about how much beauty there is around us.”
Many people hearing the words “shark video” and “Florida” in quick succession would probably assume the worst. After all, the state was declared shark attack capital of the world, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File (ISAF).
Florida’s association with shark attacks is largely down to geography though, with the state boasting some 8,500 miles of coastline.
Dr. Stephen Kajiura, a professor of biological sciences at Florida Atlantic University, said on USA Today‘s The Excerpt podcast: “Because Florida’s a year-round beach destination, you have this scenario whereby people are more likely to be bitten here simply because there’s so many people in the water all the time.”
However, anyone fearing the worst from Puckett’s encounter need not worry. For one thing, as she told Newsweek, it involved a nurse shark.
They boast strong jaws full of thousands of tiny, serrated teeth, are capable of growing up to 14 feet and have been known to bite if stepped on or bothered by divers. But nurse sharks are largely harmless, slow-moving animals who have been known to even befriend dogs.
What makes Puckett’s video remarkable in her eyes at least, is what the shark appears to be doing. She said she takes her drone out “maybe four times a month” while traveling but has never captured anything quite like this before. In the clip, the shark can be seen moving serenely through the water, before a swish of the tail creates a shape in the waves that bears an unmistakable resemblance to that of a heart.
“I don’t know if everyone will see it but I sure did when it happened,” she wrote alongside the clip posted to her yogi.backpack account. “Did you get to see the heart formed by the tail in the water?”
yogi.backpack
Several viewers commenting on the clip appeared to agree with her.
“That’s dope,” one wrote. “That was so neat,” another added, with a third describing it as one of those “little love notes from nature.”
Puckett said she has only ever captured “very good views” on her drone before, but as a diver, she immediately recognized the shark.
A self-described “soul free travel girl” who is “in love with mother nature,” Puckett said she shared the footage in the hope that others might enjoy a similarly emotional reaction and realize the importance of protecting and respecting sharks and other wildlife.
“How grateful to have such amazing creatures in the ocean,” Puckett said. “The ocean also needs our help,” she added, urging those watching the video to make sure they never leave trash behind and stay “conscious of the things you consume.”
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