Late Thursday night, Hurricane Erin’s floods forced a small shark out of the sea and up to the club’s outdoor host stand, making it the most improbable patron at a well-known bayfront bar in New Jersey.
In Beach Haven on Long Beach Island, Bird & Betty’s, a well-known bayside eatery, bar, and nightclub close to a public dock, flooded as water poured over bulkheads due to Hurricane Erin’s outer bands.
According to the staff, during karaoke night, floodwaters brought water close to the outdoor host stand beside the door and flooded the parking lot of the Ocean County club.
At that moment, employees spotted what looked to be a tiny, arm-length sand shark moving in the parking lot.
-
MORE:
There is no beach. Some Jersey Shore towns lose huge sections after Hurricane Erin erosion.
According to Dave Lundy, a server at Bird & Betty’s, the atmosphere on Friday was unlike anything he had ever seen in his time there.
According to Lundy, the entire parking lot was somewhat inundated. Then, someone asks, “Is that a fin?” Is that a shark?
In fact, it was quite crazy. He stated that last night, the bay and parking lot were essentially one.
A Beach Haven police officer is seen picking up the shark and dragging it back into the bay in a video that was uploaded to the restaurant’s Instagram page at around midnight.
However, the monster soon made its way back to the parking lot and swam up close to the host stand beside the bar’s door.
For the remainder of the evening, it continued to swim around and spend time with us, according to Lundy.
The team was concerned that the shark would become stranded as the floodwater started to recede. Witnesses claim that a security person on duty that evening eventually found the bravery to permanently return the shark to the bay.
The strange meeting occurred as Hurricane Erin’s outer bands pounded the Jersey Shore, creating 12-foot waves and seriously eroding beaches in a number of communities.
As one of the final major summer weekends drew around, the storm’s surge helped cause severe flooding even though it was still only 350 miles from land.
Stories by
Nyah Marshall
-
Luxury apartments have replaced a former Sears near Rutgers in this N.J. city
-
N.J. town s property taxes soar as school district struggles with nothing left in reserves
-
Overnight fire tears through N.J. assisted living facility
