A ten-foot-long caiman was reported Thursday in a town on Colombia’s Caribbean coast.
The reptile was spotted resting in a bay by numerous swimmers in Puerto Colombia in the northern Altantica department. It was seen lurking in the water for 10 hours before disappearing from sight.
The caiman currently remains at large. Beaches in the town have been closed to the public.
Caimans are closely related to alligators and usually inhabit freshwater rivers and lakes in Central and South America. Caimans rarely reach the size of the one spotted in Purto Colombia, although the black caiman has been known to grow up to 14 feet in length and resides in Colombian waters.
It is suspected that the animal was pushed to the sea by last winter’s severe flooding. This is the second large caiman spotted in the town this year.