TAMPA (FOX 13) -
Ask the joggers along Bayshore Boulevard and a lot of them will tell you: Yes, they've seen the 'Bayshore gator' in the last few days.
South Tampa's newest celebrity resident has been spotted swimming along the seawall. He's an estimated five feet long -- standing out even among the busy Bayshore wildlife.
"I've seen manatees, dolphins, and everything else. But we looked over and saw something moving and there was this alligator. And I never see alligators here. I kind of was like, 'Oh my gosh.' He just stayed right there and a crowd developed pretty quickly and nobody could believe an alligator had been washed out, we guessed, from the river," recalled Michael Eachon. "We were just hoping he didn't find the stairs."
Alligators normally reside in fresh water, but Florida Fish and Wildlife says they can survive in saltwater for a week or two.
