The schools of fish swimming in the Venice canals may look menacing, but the baby leopard sharks foraging for clams and other ocean morsels aren't interested in humans.
Lookiloos like Venice resident Sheena Duggal saw them earlier this month and snapped pics. Peter Wallerstein with Marine Animal Rescue says this happens every year.
Leopard sharks, identifiable with their striking pattern of black saddle-like markings and large spots, are found along the Pacific coast of North America. They can measure up to 5 feet.
Typically they follow tides onto mudflats to forage for food, mainly clams, spoon worms, crabs, shrimp, bony fish, and fish eggs, officials said.
Large schools of leopard sharks are common in bays and estuaries, swimming over sandy or muddy flats or rock-strewn areas near kelp beds and reefs.
Now they've been memorialized on Twitter in Venice's man-made canals.
