Man Spots Shark Swimming Toward His Children While Testing Drone Camera

Thanks to a man’s obsession of photography, he was able to use his drone camera to spot a shark swimming toward his wife and children who were knee-deep in the waters at New Smyrna Beach, Florida, on Sunday.

Dan Watson, who was a professional photographer, decided to try out his new drone camera while he and his wife, Sally, and three children were vacationing on the beach. The overhead pictures captured by the drone showed what appeared to be the silhouette of a shark moving toward his family.

“Kids were playing in the beach and I just decided, ‘Hey, now’s a good time to get a picture of them overhead,” he told Fox 35. “Literally, as soon as I got it into the air, I started seeing a shadow moving through the water right towards them.”

He wasted no time in warning his family. Watson started running toward his wife, who was standing closest to the shore, yelling at her to get the children out of the waters.

“I was at the edge of the water and the kids were standing in the water, and I was screaming, ‘Get out, get out, get out!’” Sally said. “I didn’t know why, and so he immediately brings the drone to me, and shows me the frame in the drone. You see that shark swimming right at our kids. It was terrifying.”

One of the photos captured by the drone showed the children making a dash for the shore while the shark was seen swimming away in the opposite direction.

“It was a God moment, because he was just going to fly the drone for fun, and it was just for a fun picture. But to see that my children were in knee-deep water and you see this big shark approaching them, it’s humbling to know that, and I’m thankfully he put that drone up at that moment,” Sally said. When you think of a shark, you think of them in deep water, you don't think of them extremely close, and you don’t think they’ll come in knee-deep water … it is terrifying to see them come that close to my kids.”

On the same day, an 18-year-old surfer was bitten on the foot by a shark in New Smyrna, Volusia County officials said. He was expected to recover after suffering minor lacerations. He was not taken to hospital.