Dad's Drone Captured Good Old Beach Fun. Then, a 'Shadow'

Dan Watson hadn't originally planned to bring his drone to the beach, but he's now thankful he made the potentially lifesaving choice to do so. CBS News reports the professional photographer and dad of three was at Florida's New Smyrna Beach on June 23 with family and friends when he decided to send his drone skyward. Then, through the drone's eyes, he spotted a "shadow" he suspected was a shark swimming perilously close to where five of the kids in his party, including his own, were swimming. His wife screamed for the children, ages 5 to 9, to get out of the water.

The real "dread," however, didn't settle in until Watson got home and was able to view higher-resolution footage. It was, indeed, a shark that had been hovering. "We are able to see its progression toward the kids," he says, adding his daughter was left "scared" and "nervous" after the incident; his boys have just been focused on the cool shark photos. This isn't the first shark sighting at New Smyrna Beach this season: The Orlando Sentinel reports a teen surfer was bitten on the foot by a shark there on Sunday, causing "very minor lacerations," per a local beach safety official. (More sharks stories.)