'Gator caught surfing at Ed Walline Park

 Beachgoers had more to view than sand and surf Monday morning as deputies from the Walton County Sheriff's Office cordoned off a stretch of beach at Ed Walline Park to corral a transient alligator in the surf.

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The alligator was reported to the WCSO Sunday evening and beach deputies were dispatched early Monday morning. The alligator was stuck in the rip tide and rolled in and out of the surf, rarely making it to the beach.

Onlookers were kept a safe distance away and soon many people were gathered along the dunes to watch and take pictures.

As deputies waited for Justin Johnson, an alligator trapper with the Nuisance Alligator Program, they kept a close eye on the gator and navigated their vehicles to keep curious beachgoers at a safe distance.

Upon Johnson's arrival he and Sgt. Ryan Brown of the WCSO took to the beach and waited for the reptile to get close enough to harpoon.

"The harpoon doesn't penetrate enough to kill," said Johnson. "It gives me enough leverage to pull the alligator out of the surf."

When the alligator was approximately 30 yards from the beach, Johnson and Brown waded waist deep into the water, harpooned the alligator and with help from local charter fisherman, Jimbo Bishop who had been summoned to help if Johnson was unable to respond to the scene, pulled the alligator onto the beach.

On shore, the three men quickly muzzled the 7 ½ foot alligator and Johnson tied its legs with electrical tape and secured it for transport.

The alligator didn't put up much of a fight. 

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"These gators can't take the salt water for long," Johnson said. "They can survive about seven days in the surf and this fellow has been swimming now for more than 24 hours; he's tired."

It took Johnson, Brown, Bishop and another deputy to lift the alligator into Johnson's truck.

"We're going to take him to a holding pen for now," said Johnson. "I'll have to find out if this alligator is going to be placed somewhere."

The Nuisance Alligator Program allows for some transient alligators to be relocated, usually if the alligator is shorter than four feet.

However, since this one was more than seven feet it's likely it will be killed.

"This is the first stray alligator of the season," said Johnson. "With it starting to warm up others will be on the move around the coastal lakes and we'll (the alligator trappers) be busy."