Todd Chrisley to far-flung flamingos: Florida's Top 10 weird or eye-popping moments from 2023
The year is coming to an end, and 2023 is one for the books.
Just about every part of Florida had its share of peculiar news this year, with headlines that might make you do a double take (or say, "only in Florida...").
From celebrities moving to the Sunshine State to hurricanes relocating flamingos, modern-day leprosy, and clams featured on Saturday Night Live, we curated a list of 10 "weird" Florida news from 2023.
Here's a recap of 2023's only-in-Florida moments, which highlights stories covered by reporters across the USA TODAY network.
Reality TV's Todd Chrisley becomes a Florida resident... in prison
Reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley are slated to leave prison earlier than anticipated.
According to prison records, the “Chrisley Knows Best” stars had their sentences reduced. The Chrisleys were found guilty of defrauding community banks of millions in fraudulent loans, which funded their luxurious lifestyle.
Todd is serving at the Federal Prison Camp in Pensacola, a minimum security institution. Julie was originally slated to serve at the Federal Correctional Institute Marianna SCP in Jackson County; However, the matriarch was moved to the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky.
The Chrisleys shot to fame in the 2010s thanks to their hit series on USA Network, which followed the multimillionaire real estate tycoons and their family's lavish lifestyle in Atlanta and Nashville.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed in September that the prison sentences of the Chrisleys were reduced. Todd will be released on Jan. 22, 2033, two years sooner than his original sentence. Julie's sentence was reduced by 14 months and will now be released on Oct. 19. 2028.
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Crocodile (!) sightings in Florida neighborhoods
It's pretty common to see alligators in Florida. But, crocodiles? Not so much.
But in April, an American crocodile was spotted by Ian Gronosky in Melbourne Beach. According to Gronosky, the crocodile was captured, had a transmitter added, and was released in the Archie Carr Wildlife Refuge with the aid of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
Then, on May 18, the Satellite Beach Police Department got a call about a crocodile on a driveway on State Road 513, and apparently, the reptile ventured into an office plaza.
Police enlisted the help of the FWC and a trapper to safely relocate the tagged crocodile.
The May crocodile sighting was the third in just over a month and the fourth time a crocodile has been recorded in the Brevard beachside area in less than six months.
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Florida Emergency Alert test gets sent at 4:45 a.m. by accident
It was a 4:45 a.m. Eastern Time rude awakening for many Floridians on April 20.
The unscheduled wake-up call was a loud buzz emitting from phones with the text “EMERGENCY ALERT: TEST - This is a TEST of the Emergency Alert System. No action is required.”
It was even scarier for Android users who first saw "Emergency alert: Extreme" when they picked up their phones (followed by the same test acknowledgment in non-bold text).
People from all parts of Florida, including those in the Central Time Zone who got the alert at 3:45 a.m. their time, flooded social media with a mix of disbelief and anger asking what happened.
About four hours after the alert went out, state officials acknowledged the alert was a mistake.
"This alert was supposed to be on TV, and not disturb anyone already sleeping," the Florida Division of Emergency Management said on Twitter (now X).
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Aber-clam Lincoln: A Florida mollusk's viral Florida journey
A clam initially believed to be 214 years old was found at Alligator Point and was released into the Gulf of Mexico in February by his caretakers.
Said to be born the same year as President Abraham Lincoln, the mollusk was nicknamed Aber-clam Lincoln.
The revelation, which captured worldwide attention, began to unravel when marines scientists disputed the age and type of clam. The organization that found the clam issued a lengthy clarification acknowledging the "misinterpretation of a scientific paper that explains the proper method of aging this species of clam."
(Though, since the exact age of the clam can only be determined by counting the striations within the shell and not on the shell’s exterior, the only way to find out its true age would be to kill it.)
The clam's celebrity status was cemented during the Weekend Update segment of "Saturday Night Live" on March 4, where it became the subject of a joke related to the death of the man it was named after. It also made it to the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
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Seven Florida beaches make top 10 'deadliest' list
Online travel publication Travel Lens ranked 10 of America's "Deadliest Beaches" to visit, and seven are located in Florida.
Criteria for the list include surf fatalities, hurricane frequency, and shark attacks based on data collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and The Shark Institute.
Here are the 10 most dangerous beaches from Travel Lens' list:
New Smyrna Beach, Florida - 8.14/10 danger score
Cocoa Beach, Florida - 7.57/10 danger score
Ormond Beach, Florida - 7.48/10 danger score
Panama City Beach, Florida - 7.16/10 danger score
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina - 6.61/10 danger score
Melbourne Beach, Florida - 6.35/10 danger score
Jacksonville Beach, Florida - 6.02/10 danger score
Oak Island, North Carolina - 5.54/10 danger score
Gulf Shores, Alabama - 5.38/10 danger score
Fort Lauderdale, Florida - 5.37/10 danger score
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NSB, Ormond Beach beachgoers disagree with 'deadliest' beach assessment
Shark attacks: Florida is the shark bite capital of the world, but attacks are down in 2023
Actor Scott Baio moved to Florida after trashing California online
Sorry, West Coast. Actor Scott Baio left California for Florida − and he's apparently living his best life on the East Coast now.
The actor best known for "Happy Days" and "Charles in Charge" reportedly left the Golden State for the Sunshine State in April on account of California's homelessness issue. According to Manatee County property records, his wife Renee Baio bought a home in Bradenton.
On April 20, the 62-year-old retired actor tweeted a photo of himself and his wife at the beach with the caption "Living our best life in Florida." On May 3, he tweeted about why he left California for Florida:
"After 45 years, I’m making my way to finally “exit stage right” from California," the post said, before citing statistics from a 2022 report by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.
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19-foot Burmese python caught in South Florida, the largest python on record
Hunters in South Florida caught the largest Burmese python ever measured back in July, which measured to be about the average height of an adult giraffe.
The 19-foot python was caught in the Big Cypress National Preserve in eastern Collier County by college students and Naples-area hunters.
USA TODAY Network visuals journalist Andrew West got an up-close look at the historic catch with his video camera when the python was put on display at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida located in Naples.
South Florida has now produced the two longest Burmese pythons on record. The previous record was 18 feet, 10 inches long, and that snake was caught about 35 miles west of Miami in October of 2020.
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Report: Some Florida pythons may actually be a mix of multiple snake species
It's not just Burmese pythons: Green anacondas may be breeding near Naples
Florida sees an increase in leprosy cases, CDC reports
Rising evidence is pointing to the possibility that leprosy has become endemic in the southeastern U.S. with Florida being named among the top reported states.
According to a research letter published in August, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that Florida is witnessing an increase in leprosy cases.
Leprosy, scientifically known as Hansen's disease, is a chronic infectious disease that primarily affects the skin and peripheral nervous system.
While the number of reported leprosy cases has grown across the country, Florida stood out in the report for two reasons: Central Florida alone accounted for nearly 20% of the total number of cases reported nationally, and several new-case patients in central Florida demonstrated no clear evidence of zoonotic exposure or traditionally known risk factors.
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Flamingos spotted all over Florida (and other states) after Hurricane Idalia
Hurricane Idalia is credited for delivering a flamingo-palooza to the Eastern United States.
They started showing up all over Florida, on both coasts and the northern Gulf Coast, as Idalia passed in late August and early September.
It was the first time a flamingo had ever been documented in places like Alachua County.
But it wasn't the first time a flamingo had been blown to Tallahassee, where Pinky blew into the St. Marks National Wildlife area with Hurricane Michael in 2018 and stayed 5 years but has not been seen since October, when flamingos that arrived with Idalia departed.
No one knows exactly how many flamingos landed in Florida, but some ornithologists have speculated there may have been as many as 70.
Even after Idalia's landfall, more flamingo sightings were reported in Alabama, South and North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and Texas. Bird watchers and ornithologists tallied estimates of more than 150 flamingos were sighted.
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Shark attacked a Florida fishing boat 8 times, destroying the motor
A fishing boat after some cobia off the Palm Beach coast over the summer was violently and repeatedly attacked by a bull shark, shaking the craft "like a bag of popcorn," according to fishing boat captain Carl Torresson of Slob City Charters out of Riviera Beach.
Josh Jorgensen, host of the popular BlacktipH Fishing YouTube channel, posted aerial footage to Instagram of what ended up being eight attacks that left the boat's engine with "astronomical" damage.
The middle of the engine was completely ripped out, Torresson said.
"The boat was shaking like a bag of popcorn. Like literally, I was shaking like an earthquake," Torresson said. "I was like, what’s going on? I went back there and I noticed it was a shark doing it. I’m like, are you kidding me? This is like a ride from Universal Studios.”
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Bonus: Celebrities in Florida in 2023
Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" and Francie Chapman move to Marco Island
After a whirlwind romance and wedding in September 2021, the reality TV star and his wife have settled in and are now on the hunt for a new adventure together — helping abused women in Southwest Florida.
Jimmy Buffett played his last Florida concert in February
Known for his "island escapism" sound and persona, Jimmy Buffett played his last Florida show at Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood.
Buffett died Sept. 1 at his home in New York from skin cancer. He was 76.
Jason Aldean buys $10.2 million mansion on Florida's Treasure Coast
Country music star Jason Aldean purchased a waterfront mansion for $10.2 million on Hutchinson Island located on Florida's east coast.
Jason Aldean has owned homes in Florida before. His previous properties were in Santa Rosa Beach and St. George Island.
'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' star opens luxe real estate brokerage firm in Palm Beach County
Real Housewives star and California realtor Mauricio Umansky launched a franchise of his luxury brokerage firm in Palm Beach Gardens in January with an eye on the area’s most opulent homes and well-heeled residents.
Married to actress and socialite Kyle Richards, Umansky is the founder and CEO of The Agency, which has franchises all over the world and in some of the wealthiest communities in the country. In Florida, the company, which has a total sales volume of $41 billion, has also opened in Naples and Bal Harbour.
Jeff Bezos leaves Seattle for Miami
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said in November that he is moving to Miami to be closer to his parents and the Cape Canaveral operations of Blue Origin, his space exploration company.
The billionaire went to high school in Miami and owns two estates in Indian Creek Village, one of the richest neighborhoods in the United States.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: 2023 Florida Top 10 weird and viral stories of the year
