LOUISIANA, USA — This time of year, beaches along the Mississippi Gulf Coast are filled with people enjoying the sun, sand and surf.
Saturday, visitors in Waveland shared the beach with an unusual visitor: a six-to-seven-foot alligator.
Chef Kevin Belton from WWL-TV spotted the gator while walking his dogs along the water.
“Saturday morning, we were walking on the beach in Waveland and all of a sudden, I’m like, wait is that a trash bag, is that a log,” Belton said. “As we got a little closer, I realized it was an alligator, sunning itself.”
Just last week, a picture of a large alligator on the west end of Dauphin Island beach in Alabama went viral.
Andrew Arnett from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks says seeing a gator on state beaches is pretty common.
“They live in the Mississippi Sound and sometimes they like to get on the beach just like we do,” Arnett said. “It’s highly likely that there’s going to be more sightings on the beach, being that we’re in breeding season and males are traveling.”
Tuesday, we didn’t see any alligators on the beach, but we did run into a group of Tulane University students celebrating the end of finals.
“This is my first time here and I wouldn’t have guessed that there would be an alligator on the beach but when you have that Mississippi brackish water, they are bound to come around I guess,” one student said.
“Kind of scary. I’m very happy there isn’t one today. I think we would have turned immediately around and went back home,” another student commented.
Chef Kevin says his gator sighting in Waveland is a reminder we’re not the only ones that enjoy the beach.
When you’re walking along the beach, if you’re walking in the water, kind of keep an eye out, pay attention, look at the shadows to see what you’re walking up on or maybe see what’s swimming up to you.
And, if come across a gator, let it be.
Wildlife experts urge beachgoers not to feed alligators.
They say if you do, the animals tend to associate food with humans and that’s not a good thing.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.