Shark sighting closed beach on Anna Maria Island over the weekend

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Photo: Todd Czaja

Todd Czaja was at the beach on Anna Maria Island when the water was cleared by life guards because of a shark over the weekend.

Czaja says he was at the south end of Coquina Beach when the he saw the purple flags go up and the lifeguards on their ATVs clearing people from the water.

Then he saw why.

"I noticed just to the north of where I was standing about 20 feet off shore a large, black shadow heading south," he said. That's when he started snapping photos.

He captured several photos of the large shark swimming in the surf just offshore. 

Czaja says the life guards on the beach thought it was a bull shark, but the type of shark was unknown.

The beach was reopened again a short time later when the shark swam away, and Czaja says they went back in the water "just a little more weary than before."