My daughter Claire, she is *** competitive wake surfer and so we're out there on the river all year 12 months out of the year training and you see them every now and then on the bank, you know they're there, but when you actually catch the moment on camera when one is coming across behind you, you kind of get *** little woo, you know. Yeah, so I saw the video, Claire. How close was that? and could you tell how big it was? It looks pretty big. Like by telling by its back, it looks pretty big, but I wasn't really face. I didn't think it was big and then I looked again and I was like, that's *** big gator. Oh my goodness, I would say 8 or 9 ft is what I, what I guess because I think with Claire, the gators don't faze her much. Now if you put *** snake in the water, absolutely not.
12-year-old Texas girl laughs off gator just feet away while wakesurfing
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Updated: 8:18 AM CDT Jul 31, 2025
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A heart-pounding moment on a Texas river had a 12-year-old wakesurfer face-to-face with a surprise visitor, and she barely flinched, Chron.com reported.Clair Hurta, a competitive wakesurfer sponsored by Pure Wakesurf, was waiting in the water between practice sets over the weekend when an alligator surfaced just feet away from her. The encounter, caught on video by her mother, Crystal Hurta, quickly went viral on TikTok.Hear what Clair and her mother had to say about the encounter in the video player above.Clair is seen in the clip smiling and laughing in the water before turning around and spotting the alligator swimming a short distance behind her. She briefly glances at it, then turns back, still smiling. Crystal, who grew up on the Colorado River in Bay City, Texas, told Chron the gator was "pretty big," and noted that its head alone stood out in the water. "Clair looked at it and just shrugged it off — she wasn't worried. Now, a snake would make her walk on water," she said. Though they frequently see gators sunning on the riverbanks, Crystal said seeing one up close and on camera still brings a jolt of adrenaline."We know they are there, but seeing them isn't something I like," she said. "She was surfing and once she fell and I went back to pick her up, I noticed the gator swimming across and was able to capture that moment. It was far enough away to where I wasn't worried, nor was Clair."After the encounter, the pair didn't stick around. "We took off after that and didn't return to that area," Crystal said, adding that she's reported nuisance alligators to game wardens in the past. According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, alligators are common in parts of the state and are usually not a threat unless they lose their fear of humans or begin following boats. In those cases, they're classified as "nuisance gators," and officials urge sightings to be reported. Online, TikTok users were stunned by Clair's calm reaction. "She's too unbothered for me," one person commented. "You guys are bred different!" another wrote.
BAY CITY, Texas — A heart-pounding moment on had a 12-year-old wakesurfer face-to-face with a surprise visitor, and she barely flinched, .
Clair Hurta, a competitive wakesurfer sponsored by Pure Wakesurf, was waiting in the water between practice sets over the weekend when an alligator surfaced just feet away from her. The encounter, caught on video by her mother, Crystal Hurta, .
Hear what Clair and her mother had to say about the encounter in the video player above.
Clair is seen in the clip smiling and laughing in the water before turning around and spotting the alligator swimming a short distance behind her. She briefly glances at it, then turns back, still smiling.
Crystal, who grew up on the Colorado River in , Texas, told Chron the gator was "pretty big," and noted that its head alone stood out in the water. "Clair looked at it and just shrugged it off — she wasn't worried. Now, a snake would make her walk on water," she said.
Though they frequently see , Crystal said seeing one up close and on camera still brings a jolt of adrenaline.
"We know they are there, but seeing them isn't something I like," she said. "She was surfing and once she fell and I went back to pick her up, I noticed the gator swimming across and was able to capture that moment. It was far enough away to where I wasn't worried, nor was Clair."
After the encounter, the pair didn't stick around. "We took off after that and didn't return to that area," Crystal said, adding that she's reported nuisance alligators to game wardens in the past.
According to the , alligators are common in parts of the state and are usually not a threat unless they lose their fear of humans or begin following boats. In those cases, they're classified as "nuisance gators," and officials urge sightings to be reported.
Online, TikTok users were stunned by Clair's calm reaction. "She's too unbothered for me," one person commented. "You guys are bred different!" another wrote.
