Giant hammerhead shark spotted in shallow waters in Texas beach

A giant hammerhead shark was spotted swimming in shallow waters near the shoreline on a Texas beach on Wednesday, sparking terror among beachgoers. 

Beachgoer Jason Schilling was enjoying his time under the sun at San Luis Pass Beach on Galveston Island’s West End when he spotted the monster shark swimming close to the shoreline in shallow water close to where he was standing. 

Schilling was able to capture the big shark splashing on the water, with its large dorsal fin clearly sticking out of the water as it moved erratically.

“This was unexpected lol. Will you still go swimming here?” Schilling said in the description of the video he uploaded to TikTok, which has now gained more than 238K views. 

 "This thing came right up to the land," Schilling said in the video. "It's a big ol' hammerhead shark just feeding on whatever. That's crazy. I didn't know they go that shallow."

“Dude, look at that frickin’ thing. What the hell? This thing came up right to the land,” he continues.

@fishingngigging This was unexpected lol Will you still go swimming here? 😅 #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #fishtok #shark #hammerhead #fishing #galveston #sanluispass ♬ original sound - Jason Schilling

The post gained thousands of comments, some of which claimed that it is actually quite common to spot sharks in the Galveston area. 

“Lots of sharks in San Luis pass. I used to go shark fishing there when I was a kid,” said one TikTok user.

“Seen them chasing stingrays onto the beach outside San Luis pass before,” said another. 

However, experts said that while it is common to spot sharks in the Gulf of Mexico, it is rare to see hammerheads in the region. Common shark sightings include Atlantic sharpnose sharks, blacktip sharks, bonnethead sharks, bull sharks, and spinner sharks.