This is no fish tale — Sharkicane could happen here!
If a raging hurricane were to strike New York City, it could suck up sharks and other sea creatures — triggering a Sharkicane, a horrifying real-life twist on the campy hit flick “Sharknado,” marine biologists warn.
“Hurricanes can carry huge volumes of water with them 20 or 30 feet over land — and whatever happens to be in that water does get transported along,” cautioned marine biologist Joe Yaiullo, of the Long Island Aquarium.
In Syfy’s wildly popular made-for-TV shark thriller, a tornado of killer sharks strikes Los Angeles, where the hungry man-eaters devour a slew of clueless Californians.
But in New York — where hurricanes are a more likely weather- related disaster — the eye of a storm is more likely to cast marine life over the seawall than onto the asphalt.
“This would certainly be unusual, although not beyond the realm of possibility,” Christopher Dold, vice president of veterinary services at SeaWorld, told ABC News.
Marine life didn’t wash ashore during Hurricane Sandy because the creatures usually know to swim away from land during a storm, experts noted. Still, some couldn’t help take the bait and weigh in on the Sharkicane controversy.
“If a shark is getting tossed around, it’s not thinking about eating a human — getting bounced around like that pretty much knocks them out,” he said.
“We have to plan for the worst and hope for the best,” said mayoral hopeful Joe Lhota, who mostly laughed off the hypothetical — and the flick itself, which stars Tara Reid of “American Pie” and Ian Ziering of “Beverly Hills 90210,” and garnered 5,000 tweets per minute after it aired Thursday.
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz is not taking any chances. “Brooklyn is ahead of the wave and ready for a Sharknado,” Markowitz said.
A spokesman for the city’s Office of Emergency Management said the agency has bigger fish to fry than worrying about a Sharkicane.
“We don’t plan for fictional events,” said Christopher Miller. “There’s a zero probability of sharks raining down on New York.”