cruise video during hurricane ian

Watch CBS News

Cruise lines cancel voyages as Hurricane Ian hits Florida

By Kate Gibson

Updated on: September 28, 2022 / 3:36 PM EDT / MoneyWatch

Cruise operators canceled trips and rerouted ships as Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida, where those in the storm's path readied on Wednesday for storm surges and potentially deadly winds . 

Carnival Cruise Line canceled a planned Thursday cruise on its Carnival Paradise ship leaving from Tampa, where the port is currently closed to maritime traffic, along with a sailing the same day from Jacksonville. Passengers will receive a full refund and a 25% credit for future cruises, Miami-based Carnival said in a  post  on its website. 

Hurricane Ian's "extremely dangerous" eyewall was moving onshore in southwest Florida late Wednesday morning, just hours after it grew into a  Category 4  storm. It was packing sustained winds of 155 mph — making it just shy of a Category 5 hurricane, which is the most powerful storm possible.

• Live Updates: Hurricane Ian's "extremely dangerous" eyewall moves onshore in southwest Florida

Carnival Elation, which departed the now-shuttered Jacksonville port on Saturday, is changing its itinerary around the Bahamas to avoid Hurricane Ian and will stay at sea until Jacksonville's JaxPort reopens. Carnival Paradise, which left the Port of Tampa Bay on Saturday and was in Cozumel on Wednesday, said it will extend its current trip until the storm has passed and the port in Tampa reopens, possibly on Saturday. 

A planned cruise by the Carnival Liberty leaving from Port Canaveral was also canceled, with the port closed and not expected to reopen until Friday. Carnival cruises that left from Mobile, Alabama; Miami; and New Orleans are rerouting their ports of call.

🚩Sept 30 Sailing of the Disney Wish is CANCELED. Guests of that sailing will automatically receive a full refund back to your original form of payment.  DCL is also providing each guest with a 20% future cruise discount. #disneycruiseline #HurricaneIan #Ian pic.twitter.com/JazFEwcNTH — MickeyBlog.com (@MickeyBlog_) September 28, 2022

Disney Cruise Line late Tuesday canceled its Friday sailing of the Disney Wish due to forecasted weather conditions for Port Canaveral and Central Florida. It said customers would be fully reimbursed and offered a 20% discount on future cruises. 

Royal Caribbean postponed Thursday's Mariner of the Seas departure from Port Canaveral until Friday, but that plan is subject to change. 

Norwegian Cruise Line rerouted its Norwegian Sky to Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands from a planned itinerary that had included Grand Cayman, Honduras, Belize and Mexico. The line also canceled a 10-day Caribbean sailing on Norwegian Getaway that was to depart Thursday from Orlando, it stated on its site.

The high seas and winds also prompted the Big M Casino to cancel all of its cruises Thursday, Friday and Saturday, tweeted the company, which operates gambling vessels from Little River, South Carolina. 

Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg were among the cities bracing for the worst of the storm, but the  latest forecasts suggested  Ian would make landfall slightly further south, with the Ft. Myers region at risk of a possible direct hit. Given the size and strength of the hurricane and the storm surge it's expected to drive into coastal areas, officials were clear that much of Florida remained at risk. Life-threatening impacts are expected and power outages are occurring.

• Cruise Ship

Kate Gibson is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch in New York.

More from CBS News

Hurricane Ian disrupts major cruise line itineraries. Here are the major changes so far.

Major cruise lines have adjusted plans due to Hurricane Ian , in some cases changing nearly entire itineraries or canceling sailings altogether.

Norwegian Cruise Line rerouted a Sept. 25 round-trip cruise from Miami with scheduled stops in George Town, Grand Cayman, Roatán, Honduras, and Harvest Caye, Belize, and Cozumel, Mexico, a spokesperson told USA TODAY in an email. The Norwegian Sky will instead visit San Juan, Puerto Rico, Saint Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Tortola in the British Virgin Islands and Nassau in the Bahamas.

"The safety and security of our guests and crew is always our number one priority," the spokesperson said, adding that passengers with shore excursions booked through Norwegian at impacted ports would be refunded via their onboard accounts.

The cruise line also canceled a 10-day Caribbean sailing on Norwegian Getaway scheduled to leave on Thursday from Orlando, Florida, according to a statement on its website .

MSC Cruises also made major changes to MSC Seashore's Sept. 24 sailing from Miami, swapping its Western Caribbean itinerary for Eastern Caribbean stops, including the line's private island, Ocean Cay, Nassau in the Bahamas and Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.

'We are not OK': In Comerío, Puerto Rico, Hurricane Fiona has left people without water, food and medicine

See the scope:  Hurricane Fiona's damage in Puerto Rico in charts and graphics

"Guests received a full refund of any shore excursion booked for destinations the ship will no longer be calling at, and shore excursions booked for Ocean Cay were automatically rescheduled for the new call date there," MSC spokesperson Field Sutton said in an email.

MSC Divina also skipped a stop at Ocean Cay Tuesday, making its way to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, instead, and "tentatively plans" to head back to Florida's Port Canaveral on Friday, a day later than planned, Sutton said. A three-night sailing on the ship scheduled for Thursday has been canceled as well.

The changes come after Hurricane Fiona disrupted cruise schedules, forcing Norwegian to reroute a cruise bound for Bermuda to Canada  last week.

Other major lines such as Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International have similarly altered itineraries as a result of Hurricane Ian.

What other cruise lines have made changes?

►   Carnival canceled three sailings due to port closures in Jacksonville, Tampa, and   Port Canaveral in Florida. The cruise line called off four-day sailings on Carnival Elation and Carnival Paradise from Jacksonville and Tampa, respectively, and a three-day trip on Carnival Liberty from Port Canaveral, spokesperson Matt Lupoli said in an email. Carnival Elation and Carnival Paradise were scheduled to leave Thursday, with Carnival Liberty departing on Friday, and all passengers will get full refunds and 25% future cruise credits.

The line delayed a Saturday sailing on Carnival Sunshine as well. The ship will now leave on Sunday, due to a port closure in Charleston, South Carolina, that has delayed its return. Passengers will "receive a one-day pro-rated refund of our cruise fare and a $50 onboard credit," and those who decide not to sail will get a full refund, according to Lupoli.

Carnival Elation also swapped its scheduled visit to Princess Cays for a day at sea Tuesday and visited Freeport in the Bahamas Wednesday in place of a planned sea day, during a sailing from Jacksonville. The ship, which had been scheduled to come back on Thursday, is set to dock in Jacksonville when the port reopens, which Lupoli said is expected to take place Saturday. 

Carnival Liberty did not stop at Princess Cays Wednesday during a sailing from Port Canaveral, and Carnival Horizon did not stop at Grand Cayman on its sailing from Miami, opting for a sea day instead. The ship is expected to get back to Port Canaveral Saturday, one day later than scheduled.

Carnival Paradise, which is on a sailing from Tampa, extended its Tuesday stop in Cozumel through Wednesday. The vessel is set to dock in Tampa when the port reopens. That is expected to take place Saturday, though the ship had been scheduled to return Thursday.

Carnival Sunrise also skipped a stop in Bimini in the Bahamas Wednesday during a sailing from Miami, spending a day at sea instead.

Lupoli said Carnival Ecstasy, which left from Mobile, Alabama, Monday, would reorder its visits to Cozumel and Progreso, Mexico, stopping in Progreso first. Another ship, Carnival Glory, departed New Orleans on Sept. 25 and was set to stop in Mahogany Bay and Roatán, Honduras, as well as Belize and Cozumel, rather than its previously planned stops, which included Key West, Florida, and Nassau.

► Royal Caribbean International has adjusted plans and its ships have skipped several ports as a result of the storm. Mariner of the Seas' Thursday sailing from Port Canaveral – which is currently closed – will now depart on Saturday, the cruise line said on its website . The ship will not visit Nassau, but will visit Perfect Day at CocoCay on Sunday.

Independence of the Seas' Friday voyage will now leave on Saturday, as well, and will not visit Perfect Day at CocoCay, but will stop in Nassau on Sunday as scheduled.

Those who sail will be compensated in on board credits, while passengers who decide to cancel can get a full refund.

Mariner of the Seas also skipped a visit to Labadee, Haiti, Monday on a sailing from Florida's Port Canaveral, a Royal Caribbean Group spokesperson said in an email. The spokesperson said   Allure of the Seas would skip its scheduled visit to Roatán Tuesday during its sailing from Fort Lauderdale, and Liberty of the Seas would not stop in Cozumel as planned Tuesday.

► Celebrity Cruises replaced stops in Belize and Cozumel on a Celebrity Infinity sailing from Fort Lauderdale Sept. 24 with visits to Nassau and Labadee, the Royal Caribbean Group spokesperson said.

► Disney Cruise Line canceled a Friday sailing on its Disney Wish ship, according to its website . Passengers booked on the cruise, which was scheduled to leave from Port Canaveral, "will automatically receive a full refund back to their original form of payment," a Disney Cruise Line spokesperson said in an email. "Additionally, we’re providing each guest with a 20% future cruise discount."

Hurricane Fiona hurtles through Bermuda; Atlantic Canada braces for 'historic storm'

Where is Hurricane Ian headed?

The coasts of North and South Carolina could see "life-threatening storm-surge" Friday, according to the National Hurricane Center .

The center also said hurricane-force winds "are expected along the coasts of South Carolina and southeastern North Carolina within the Hurricane Warning area soon," among other impacts.

•   Weather

Search location by ZIP code

Videos show hurricane ian's path of destruction.

• Copy Link Copy {copyShortcut} to copy Link copied!

GET NATIONAL BREAKING NEWS ALERTS

The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox.

Video above: Incredible drone video shows flooding in Orlando

After leaving catastrophic damage behind in Florida, Hurricane Ian made landfall on coastal South Carolina on Friday.

Videos are showing attempts in Florida to recover from the devastation caused by the deadly storm, while other footage shows the effects of heavy rains and harsh winds coming into the Carolinas.

Here's a look at videos from the storm's aftermath and current track.

Videos from above have given a glimpse at just how badly the storm hit parts of Florida:

Video: Drone footage shows hurricane damage in Fort Myers

Aerial photos from the Fort Myers area, a few miles west of where Ian struck land, showed homes ripped from their slabs and deposited in a jumble among shredded wreckage. Businesses near the beach were completely razed, leaving just twisted debris. Broken docks floated at odd angles beside damaged boats, and fires smoldered on lots where houses once stood.

Video: Drone video from the City of Kissimmee showed widespread flooding

Officials in Kissimmee said Hurricane Ian was "a worst-case scenario" for the city.

"One of our hospitals here, Osceola Regional — which is a trauma two-level center — was surrounded by water this morning. Our rescues could not make entry," Bill Litton, Osceola County's emergency management director, told CNN Thursday evening.

Video: Military vehicles drive through floodwaters to rescue residents

Sister station WESH flew over an area of Orlando Thursday afternoon and captured extensive damage to buildings and massive flooding along roadways.

The video shows military vehicles maneuvering through floodwaters to rescue residents of an apartment complex. People waded through the water with belongings and pets in tow as they boarded those vehicles.

Video: Orange County deputies rescue woman from floodwaters

Meanwhile, deputies in Orange County, Florida, rescued a woman from running floodwaters.

Officials say the woman's car was swept away Thursday by an extreme current in floodwaters at Dean and Lake Underhill, where the Little Econ River surged.

A group of deputies formed a human chain and went into 10-foot deep waters to save the woman.

Video: Wind and rain moves into South Carolina as Hurricane Ian approaches

In South Carolina, winds and rain moved in.

Sheets of rain whipped trees and power lines and left many areas on Charleston’s downtown peninsula under water.

Video: Myrtle Beach hit by waves as Ian nears

Video also captured some of the first damage in Myrtle Beach, where waves crashed against piers and boardwalks.

Video: Cherry Grove pier collapses as Hurricane Ian passes through

The Cherry Grove pier in North Myrtle Beach collapsed as rough seas churned around it Friday afternoon.

In the video of the collapse, a woman can be heard predicting, "it's going to go."

Video: Nest home camera shows flooding underneath South Carolina home

A Nest home camera caught some of the flooding caused by Hurricane Ian Friday afternoon in North Myrtle Beach.

Video shared by Brenda Thomas shows water flowing beneath a home on stilts, while palm trees blew in the wind and a mailbox floated by.

CNN contributed to this report.

Disruptions to cruise ship itineraries grow as Hurricane Ian barrels toward Florida

At least six cruise lines were rerouting ships in the Caribbean and the Bahamas on Monday as a growing Hurricane Ian barreled toward Florida.

In a significant change, Norwegian Cruise Line sent its 2,002-passenger Norwegian Sky to the Eastern Caribbean for the week instead of the Western Caribbean to avoid the storm.

The Miami-based vessel, which departed the city late Sunday, will visit Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, Tortola and the Bahamas this week instead of Grand Cayman, Belize, Honduras and Mexico.

For more cruise news, guides and tips, sign up for TPG's cruise newsletter .

MSC Cruises ' 4,540-passenger MSC Seashore is also heading to the Eastern Caribbean instead of the Western Caribbean. The Miami-based vessel, which departed the city on Saturday, will visit the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic over the next few days instead of Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Mexico.

At the same time, a New Orleans-based Carnival Cruise Line ship originally scheduled to sail to the Bahamas this week is heading to the Western Caribbean instead. The 2,980-passenger Carnival Glory, which departed from New Orleans on Sunday on a seven-night voyage to Key West, Florida, and Freeport and Nassau in the Bahamas, is now visiting Belize, Honduras and Mexico.

Other last-minute itinerary changes affect:

• Celebrity Infinity . The 2,170-passenger Celebrity Cruises vessel pulled into Nassau in the Bahamas on Monday instead of being at sea as scheduled. It will skip a call in Belize on Tuesday and replace a call in Cozumel, Mexico, scheduled for Wednesday with a stop in Labadee, Haiti. The Fort Lauderdale-based vessel is on a seven-night voyage that began Saturday.
• Mariner of the Seas . The 3,344-passenger Royal Caribbean ship skipped a call scheduled for Labadee, Haiti, on Monday and instead was at sea. The Port Canaveral, Florida-based ship is on a five-night voyage that began on Saturday.
• Liberty of the Seas . The 3,798-passenger Royal Caribbean ship will skip a call at Cozumel on Tuesday as it heads far more easterly than normal to avoid the storm. The ship is on a seven-night cruise out of Galveston, Texas.
• Allure of the Seas . The 5,484-passenger Royal Caribbean ship will skip a call at Roatan, Honduras, scheduled for Tuesday as it also stays to the east to avoid the storm. The ship is on a six-night voyage from Fort Lauderdale.
• Scarlet Lady . The 2,770-passenger Virgin Voyages vessel will skip a call at Costa Maya, Mexico, scheduled for Tuesday and visit Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic instead. The ship is on a five-night voyage out of Miami that began Saturday.
• Carnival Ecstasy . The 2,052-passenger Carnival vessel will visit Progreso, Mexico, on Wednesday and Cozumel, Mexico on Thursday, reversing the order of the port calls. The ship is on a six-night sailing from Mobile, Alabama.

The storm will likely affect more cruise ships over the coming days as it crosses into the Gulf of Mexico and approaches the west coast of Florida.

Among other vessels that could face disruptions are Carnival's Galveston, Texas-based Carnival Dream and Tampa, Florida-based Carnival Paradise. The Port Canaveral-based Carnival Liberty also could be affected if Ian tracks eastward across Florida.

Related: Hurricane Ian likely to affect travel for days

A spokesperson for Carnival on Monday told TPG that six Carnival vessels in all could possibly be affected by the storm this week.

"Our fleet operations center in Miami is continuing to monitor Hurricane Ian and its potential impact on the itineraries for the following ships: Carnival Dream, Ecstasy, Glory, Liberty, Paradise and Sunrise," Carnival spokesperson Matt Lupoli said in a statement.

Of particular concern is Carnival Paradise, the only cruise vessel currently based in Tampa. It's due back in Tampa early Thursday from a five-night cruise to the Western Caribbean and scheduled to depart the city later that day on a new voyage. The current projections for Hurricane Ian's track put it close to Tampa by Thursday.

On Monday, the U.S. Coast Guard set Port Condition Yankee for the Port of Tampa, which means gale-force winds (34 to 47 knots) are expected within 24 hours. Ships are barred from entering a port under Port Condition Yankee but can still depart.

Related: A complete guide to cruising during hurricane season

In a video update posted Monday, Royal Caribbean chief meteorologist James Van Fleet warned that the storm could cause more of an impact on the west coast of Florida than it appeared just 24 hours ago.

"I think there might be harder impacts [to the west coast of Florida] than it was looking over the weekend," Van Fleet said in the first of two Twitter videos offering his outlook on the storm and its effect on cruisers. "I think we need to be ready for that."

Also keeping an eye on Hurricane Ian is Disney Cruise Line , which has two ships based in Port Canaveral. The ships are scheduled to take on new passengers at the port on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

"We're closely monitoring Hurricane Ian," Disney Cruise Line spokesperson Melanie Hager told TPG in an emailed statement. "We have not made any modifications to our itineraries at this time."

Hurricane Ian's projected path toward Florida is causing growing anxiety for cruisers scheduled to board ships in the state in the next few days, particularly those scheduled to sail out of the central Florida ports of Tampa and Port Canaveral.

In addition to possible delays to ship departures, cruisers scheduled to sail out of Port Canaveral and Tampa this week could face flight cancellations and delays.

"I really hope [Carnival Cruise Line] just cancels my cruise now," one passenger scheduled to sail out of Tampa on Thursday wrote Monday on Twitter.

Related: What happens when a hurricane hits Disney World

The disruptions come as one of the busier cruise ports in the region that often serves as an alternate stop for cruise ships avoiding hurricanes, Grand Turk, remains closed for now due to damage from Hurricane Fiona .

As of 5 p.m. EDT Monday, Ian was about 155 miles southeast of the western tip of Cuba and moving north-northwest at 13 miles per hour. The hurricane had maximum sustained winds of 100 miles per hour.

The storm is expected to strengthen rapidly over the next 36 hours as it moves toward the west-central coast of Florida. According to current projections, it could be a very powerful Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 140 miles per hour as it nears the coast of Florida late Wednesday into early Thursday.

Planning a cruise? Start with these stories:

• The 5 most desirable cabin locations on any cruise ship
• The 8 worst cabin locations on any cruise ship
• A quick guide to the most popular cruise lines
• 21 tips and tricks that will make your cruise go smoothly
• 15 ways cruisers waste money
• 12 best cruises for people who never want to grow up
• What to pack for your first cruise

Hurricane Ian videos capture heroic rescues and widespread devastation in Florida

After the eye of Hurricane Ian wreaked havoc over Florida on Wednesday, striking videos have surfaced showing heroic rescues of people stranded in submerged cars and wading in floodwaters, as well as heartbreaking video of the widespread devastation left in the storm’s wake. 

Ian was downgraded to a tropical storm Thursday morning after making landfall near Cayo Costa around 3 p.m. Wednesday as a powerful Category 4 hurricane with winds of 150 mph.

But the threat is far from over.

As Floridians grapple with rushing floodwaters , life-threatening storm surges and a blackout affecting more than 2 million people — glimmers of hope have emerged in videos showing how the communities have stepped up to protect one another.

Heroes run to the rescue

During a live broadcast Wednesday, an Australian cameraman was seen dropping his camera and running into floodwaters to help families wading to safety amid fierce winds. 

Broadcast video shows Glen Ellis with 7News place his equipment on the ground to run into the floods and help a family with young children carry their belongings to higher ground, then go back in to aid another local.

When Ellis returned to the camera, reporter Tim Lester praised his co-worker saying, “Good work, Glen! Glen rushing out there and helping some people in.” 

In Naples, the Naples Fire-Rescue Department shared video showing the rescue of a woman from a submerged vehicle Wednesday.

An officer is seen shattering the window of a white car halfway under water to extricate the woman, place her in a life jacket and guide her to safety. 

"Please let this be a lesson to stay off the roads when flooding is possible," the department said in the caption.

A group of good Samaritans called the “Collier County Cowboys” were also filmed conducting a water rescue, saving an elderly man found in a car filling with water in Bonita Springs.

The video shows the moment the man is lifted from the vehicle and two men carry him through waist-deep water looking for a safe place to hunker down.

Ian's aftermath: Locals wade in floodwaters, streets turned into rivers

Ian's wrath in Florida is not yet over, with the storm forecast to bring “catastrophic” flooding over east-central Florida on Thursday morning, as well as life-threatening flooding, storm surge, gusty winds and possible tornadoes, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Videos uploaded online show the havoc the storm left in its wake and how quickly it came ashore, submerging entire neighborhoods.

A time-lapse video captured from the Florida 511 traffic network system in Fort Myers shows Ian's storm surge pushing into a dry neighborhood, quickly transforming it into an unrecognizable rushing river over the course of an hour and a half.

For locals, surviving the hurricane was a frightening ordeal. 

Renee Smith of Punta Gorda, Florida, told MSNBC on Thursday that she rode out the storm by hiding under the kitchen table, creating a makeshift fort with pillows and blankets.

Protecting herself wasn't her only concern — she also had to protect her husband, who has prostate cancer and is paralyzed from the chest down. He was supposed to undergo surgery this week, but the operation was canceled due to the storm. 

She called the experience “terrifying,” and recalled how she covered her husband in blankets, placed him in a life jacket, zip-tied him to the hospital bed in her home, and put pillows around him to protect him as Ian passed. 

Smith said her husband was traumatized, but alive, and Ian was far worse than Hurricane Charley, which she survived 18 years ago. 

“Charley was less than an hour, the sun came out afterwards, there was no torrential rain,” she said, but even the back of Ian’s eyewall was “awful.”

“Long lasting, as powerful as the front, you could hear the chimney getting ripped off the roof and coming down right above my head on the roof. I was afraid it was going to come through the roof and crush me,” Smith said.

In multiple cities, Ian destroyed streets and entire neighborhoods. In Tampa, the police department shared a video of a traffic light crashing down in front of a car, huge trees toppled onto the ground and roads covered in debris, while in Naples, Fire-Rescue Department video showed a downed power line exploding into flames. 

Other videos by locals show the devastating extent of the floods, with neighborhoods in Naples inundated and the impact of the howling winds that blew through Sarasota and Fort Myers .

The rains flooded highways in Boca Raton , and the strong gusts caused a giant tree to come crashing down on a home that appeared to be near Tampa.

Breaking News Reporter

• Today's news
• Reviews and deals
• Climate change
• 2024 election
• Fall allergies
• Health news
• Mental health
• Sexual health
• Family health
• So mini ways
• Unapologetically
• Buying guides

Entertainment

• How to Watch
• My watchlist
• Stock market
• Biden economy
• Personal finance
• Stocks: most active
• Stocks: gainers
• Stocks: losers
• Trending tickers
• World indices
• US Treasury bonds
• Top mutual funds
• Highest open interest
• Highest implied volatility
• Currency converter
• Basic materials
• Communication services
• Consumer cyclical
• Consumer defensive
• Financial services
• Industrials
• Real estate
• Mutual funds
• Credit cards
• Credit card rates
• Balance transfer credit cards
• Business credit cards
• Cash back credit cards
• Rewards credit cards
• Travel credit cards
• Checking accounts
• Online checking accounts
• High-yield savings accounts
• Money market accounts
• Personal loans
• Student loans
• Car insurance
• Home buying
• Options pit
• Investment ideas
• Research reports
• Fantasy football
• Pro Pick 'Em
• College Pick 'Em
• Fantasy baseball
• Fantasy hockey
• Fantasy basketball
• Download the app
• Daily fantasy
• Scores and schedules
• GameChannel
• World Baseball Classic
• Premier League
• CONCACAF League
• Champions League
• Motorsports
• Horse racing
• Newsletters

New on Yahoo

• Privacy Dashboard

That viral video during Hurricane Ian was real. But whether it showed a shark is debatable

A video that went viral on Twitter the day Hurricane Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida has been confirmed as original footage.

The video went viral when Brad Habuda from Fort Myers tweeted the video Wednesday afternoon. The video has received nearly 13 million views, despite many on the platform question the legitimacy of the video. In 2017, a fake photo of a shark swimming on a highway in Houston, Texas went viral before it was proven to be a hoax .

Another viral moment: Camera goes underwater, then viral as Hurricane Ian floods Fort Myers Beach

But Habuda did not film the moment. And the person he credited in a follow-up tweet, Ed Bell, didn't either. According to Storyful, a media newswire used by the USA TODAY Network, Dominic Cameratta filmed the video from his property in the Devonwood community.

Video filmed in Fort Myers before Hurricane Ian made landfall

The back of Cameratta’s house faces a small lake about half a mile east of Hendry Creek, a tributary that empties into Estero Bay and that also rises and fall with the tides.

He provided Storyful with the original video, which contained metadata specifying the video was filmed at 8:04 a.m. Wednesday.

'Fort Myers Beach is gone.' Waterfront workers recount Hurricane Ian devastation

While the video is real, whether or not a shark was caught on camera remains unclear.

Storyful says they spoke with a spokesperson for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission who said staff were “unable to identify the animal.”

Rick Bartleson, a marine scientist at the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF), told the organization based on the shape of its dorsal fin, he was doubtful that the animal was either a shark or sawfish.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Fort Myers 'shark ' swimming video real, but may have been fish

Recommended Stories

Mock draft monday with field yates: you will be shocked how early bo nix goes.

'Mock Draft Monday' rolls on ESPN's Field Yates joining Matt Harmon to break down his latest mock draft. Harmon has Yates break down his mock draft methodology and what goes into his decision making when placing certain prospects on certain teams.

NFL offseason: 5 smartest moves include deals from Eagles, Chiefs and Bears

What were the shrewdest moves of the NFL offseason so far?

ESPN broadcast tips Dodgers pitches vs. Cardinals during in-game interview with Kiké Hernandez

Hernandez's PitchCom speaker was broadcast for all the world to hear.

Tesla’s $25,000 car means tossing out the 100-year-old assembly line

Tesla has a plan to fend off cheaper competition from China with a $25,000 electric car. But first it has to overhaul a 100-year-old manufacturing process pioneered by Henry Ford.

NFL mock draft: Trades galore as one of the best QB prospects slides outside the top 10

Charles McDonald and Nate Tice's latest mock draft has five quarterbacks off the board in the top 13, a big-time weapon for Aaron Rodgers and some steals in the second half of the first round.

Longtime ESPN anchor John Anderson says he's retiring from 'SportsCenter:' 'The operation has changed'

Anderson has been hosting "SportsCenter" since 1999.

The 'extreme' Social Security move that actually makes sense

The election year battle over cherished retirement programs is a microcosm explaining why Washington doesn't solve solvable problems.

One fateful decision summed up North Carolina's Sweet 16 demise

Jae’Lyn Withers shot UNC's most important 3-pointer of the game when he had no business firing away. And now the No. 1 Tar Heels are going home.

Mets pitcher ejected for throwing behind Brewers' Rhys Hoskins a day after heated exchange

Rhys Hoskins had a big day for the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday, continuing his grudge match against the New York Mets.

Mavericks star Luka Dončić drops 47 points, sinks wild trick shot to snap Rockets’ 11-game win streak

The Rockets, who are in the midst of an incredible postseason push, just lost their first game since March 6.

Massive changes coming to Google Chrome threaten to reshape the modern internet

Google is ending third-party cookies in Chrome. Here’s what that means for publishers trying to stay afloat in a brutal market.

2024 New York International Auto Show Editors' Top 5 Picks

Though not the biggest New York International Auto Show, there were still some exciting reveals and even a surprise or two. We pick the best of show.

Kenny Brooks leaves Virginia Tech for Kentucky job in stunning end of era

Within a couple of weeks, Virginia Tech's Final Four hopes dropped because of Elizabeth Kitley's injury and Brooks exited for the SEC.

Final Four: UConn's odds of winning back-to-back national championships are staggeringly low

You're not going to get much of a return if you bet UConn to win two more games.

USWNT's Korbin Albert apologizes after Megan Rapinoe calls out anti-LGBTQ social media content

Albert took over Rapinoe's No. 15 jersey number this year.

Ex-Jaguars employee who once hacked team's Jumbotron sentenced to 220 years in prison for child molestation

The FBI searched Samuel Arthur Thompson's home after figuring out he hacked the Jaguars' jumbotron. What they found next was awful.

2025 Ram 1500's 'Hurricane' I6 tops V8 in fuel economy

2025 Ram 1500 full-size pickup truck now has fuel economy numbers, and the Hurricane inline-six delivers better numbers than the V8 it replaces.

Kentucky's 5-star recruits recognize pressure on program next year: 'We're not losing in the first round'

John Calipari and Kentucky's incoming star freshmen have something to prove next season after the Wildcats had another early exit in the NCAA tournament.

76ers' Kelly Oubre Jr. confronts officials after missed call on final play in loss to Clippers

"You're a b*tch. You’re a b*tch. You’re a b*tch," Oubre told each official after the defeat.

New Angels manager Ron Washington calls team meeting after just 2 games: ‘We can’t get off track’

Though the meeting came with 160 games still left on the schedule, the Angels were outscored 24-7 in their first two blowout losses of the season.