A Tennessee woman shared images of sharks swimming within feet of vacationers at a popular South Carolina beach destination on June 14.
Bulls Gap resident Ginger Gilmer almost could not believe her eyes when she took photos of the sharks from her 15th floor vacation rental at Sedgefield North 304 on North Myrtle Beach, 169 miles east of Columbia.
The marine predators appear to be swimming around the unsuspecting tourists who waded in the water, prompting Gilmer to try the pool instead.
Gilmer claims none of the vacationers she photographed knew they might be in danger.
“It was the craziest thing I have ever seen, people had no idea,” she said. “Not one person had an idea of what was lurking around them ... it was really murky [in Myrtle Beach].”
She counted at least a few different sharks in the area.
“There were three different ones [sharks],” she said. “You cannot see them at sea level.”
On the photos Gilmer highlighted the dark spots in the water that she identified to be sharks, which are swimming just feet away from tourists.
At least three photos clearly show a dorsal fin above the water.
The photos have been liked more than 3,400 times and shared over 22,000 times.
Gilmer was so concerned, she seriously thought about immediately warning others to watch out.
“It was just scary because they did not know,” she said. “[I] just was not sure if it was appropriate to yell shark from the 15th floor and cause a panic.”
Nevertheless, she did enjoy the view and even saw the funny side of the experience.
“They [the sharks] are cool from the 15th floor of the resort,” Gilmer said. “Gulf waters are gorgeous and at least I can see what is going to get me ... not taking that chance, lol!”
Since sharing the photos online, she claimed to receive several messages from shark lovers who feared the creatures might be harmed by those who do not like them.
Gilmer said she did not intend to share the images to incite hatred or inflict injury towards the sharks.
Even though she did not swim with the sharks, she vowed to continue holidaying at Myrtle Beach.
