In addition to selfies and hashtags, one of the strange things our culture has become obsessed with is photobombs. We think photobombs are hilarious — particularly when they're done by a baby, celebrity, or animal. But when said animal is a giant great white shark, and the intended photo subjects are children, it crosses over from funny to downright terrifying.
A mom in Manhattan Beach, California was taking a photo of her 12-year-old son and his friend surfing in the ocean, when a shark appeared in the break of the wave behind them. She snapped a photo of the kids playing on their boards, and you can see what very much looks like a shark in the background of the picture — very close to them. Pretty frightening.
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But what's a little unusual about this situation, aside from the fact that, you know, there's a shark near small children, is that the mom told her kids it was just a dolphin. She said, "It was quite a shock to see. Many local surfers and lifeguards have seen this and believe it to be a shark. Of course, I told my kids it was a dolphin, as we live at the beach and are in the waters here almost daily."
Huh? Clearly, this mother doesn't want anything to happen to her kids, and you can't stay out of the ocean forever, but wouldn't you want your children to know there are sharks in the water they often play in so they can be more aware of their surroundings? And what if they saw the "dolphin" coming near them and tried to pet it? I don't claim to have this parenting thing totally figured out, but that seems like an odd route to take.
Thankfully, everyone is okay, and hopefully nothing will ever happen to her children while they're surfing in the Pacific. But it might not be a bad idea to give them a heads up that there's a chance they could get eaten while catching some waves. I dunno, just a suggestion.
What would you tell your kids if you spotted a shark in the water they always swam in?
Image via KTLA
