Beaches around Tybee Island were reopened Friday afternoon after an alligator was spotted in the water earlier, according to a city media release.
“The alligator swimming off the south shore of Tybee Island has been captured and is being removed by the trapper,” according to the release. “Beaches are now re-opened to beachgoers, swimmers, kayakers and surfers!”
Jack Douglas, a professional trapper who frequently removes alligators when they are found in the Savannah area, was brought in to capture the gator, The Associated Press reported.
Tybee Island police, animal control and fire personnel also worked to capture the alligator, which was 7 feet long. It was sighted off the beaches on the south end of the city, according to an earlier media release.
Tybee Island is popular as a residential area and a tourism destination.
An alligator in the Atlantic Ocean off the island "is a very rare occurrence," Tybee Fire Chief Ashley Fields told ABC News.
“He might have come out of the Savannah River Channel is the only thing I could figure, but I wouldn’t bet money on that.”
Alligators in the South typically are found in fresh water such as ponds, rivers, streams and swamps, Tybee Island Mayor Jason Buelterman told ABC News. However, gators are able to swim through salt water in the ocean to get from one place to another, he said.
This incident came days after an alligator snatched a toddler at a lake at the Walt Disney World resort in Orlando. The toddler’s body was found Wednesday.
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