iStockphoto / TACrafts
A large alligator was spotted swimming at the popular Hillsboro Beach in South Florida near Boca. This is a very uncommon sighting for several reasons mentioned below and one that caused alarm amongst the beachgoers and led to an alligator wrangler removing it from the beach.
The big alligator caused quite the commotion at the beach before its removal:
The most likely explanation is the alligator found itself in a canal which fed into the intracoastal. It was likely, for any number of reasons, unable to get out of the canal and swam into the intracoastal which led to Hillsboro Inlet, a dicey pass with rough waves and it swam with the flow out into the Atlantic. Once there it likely spotted the beach and headed back for shore to get back to freshwater. It could have gone down so many different ways but this is the most likely.
It is exceedingly rare to see alligators swimming in saltwater in Florida. Gators are actually capable of tolerating saltwater for up to several days at a time but they are freshwater creatures and more often than not, when they’re found in saltwater it’s because they were recently in brackish water (mixture of salt and freshwater) and got lost on their way back to freshwater.
That’s not to say alligators are NEVER seen on or near beaches in Florida. I’m a born and raised Floridian and I’ve only ever seen this once that I can remember. Of course, we do have American crocodiles in the Florida Everglades that live in the saltwater but that’s an entirely different species.
What’s the difference between an alligator and a crocodile?
I often (probably mistakenly) assume everyone knows the difference between an alligator and a crocodile. If you don’t, or maybe you need a refresher, here’s a reminder of their differences:
Now you can begin to get a sense of how rare it was for that alligator to wind up on Hillsboro Beach in South Florida.