Proof That Florida Isn’t Safe For Anyone: Gigantic Alligator Steals A Huuuge Redfish From Someone Pier Fishing

This footage of an alligator stealing a child’s huge redfish as he fishes from a pier is going über viral. I haven’t actually been able to track down where in Florida this incident took place, or if it’s even Florida, it could’ve happened in Louisiana or the other Gulf states, I suppose. But based on the father/son outfits of shorts and t-shirts, the size of that alligator, and the color of the green water I’ll just assume that this took place somewhere throughout Florida because it’s been hot as balls here lately (seriously, it’s supposed to be 86 this week).

As for the clip at hand, it was first shared by the Bass Master and Fish Experts Facebook Page and it’s picked up a cool 243,283 shares as of the time I’m publishing this. The video’s also amassed more than 10 million views and it’s only been on the Internet since February 23rd…Kinda makes you think that Facebook video has really outpaced YouTube over the past few years, doesn’t it?

Anyways, after watching this clip I’m 1) fairly certain that it’s no longer safe to go swimming in Florida, anywhere or anytime, and 2) I have a lot of questions about what it was that was swimming after the alligator as it scooted away. If you look closely at the end of the video you can clearly see a dark shape moving in the water in the wake of the alligator. I really want to know what that is/was.

For all you dudes out there who don’t fish, if you ever find yourself in this situation and see a massive apex predator coming up to steal your fish and take an easy/free meal the proper etiquette would be to just cut the line and let that fish loose. You don’t want that alligator (or shark) getting the fishing hook stuck in its mouth, and you want to give the fish a fighting chance. Just let it go.

(h/t Mashable via UPI)