MARION COUNTY, Fla. - A Florida woman who was floating on a paddleboard in the Silver River used her paddle to push away a large alligator that swam directly toward her in a frightful, up-close encounter captured in startling videos and photographs.

The alligator came within inches of Vicki Baker, 60, of Ocala, on Sept. 8. She estimated the reptile to be nearly as long as her 10-foot paddleboard. It hissed loudly at her. She said at one point it opened its mouth, revealing large teeth and its powerful jaw as it floated on the surface.

“What are you doing? Get away from me! Get away from me!” she yelled at the alligator as it swam inches from her paddleboard. “No! Oh, my God, I had to push him away with my paddle!”

Nearby, off-camera in the video, an employee at Silver Springs State Park can be heard on a speaker advising her: “Ma’am, I’m going to suggest backing up considering you just made him pretty mad.”

A week later, in her first extensive interview about the incident, Baker said she remains puzzled over the encounter. She said she presumed that someone else on the water had been feeding the alligator, desensitizing it to humans and helping it associate paddlers on the river with food. More than 1 million people have seen photos and videos of the encounter, so far.

“I was afraid,” she said. “You can hear it in my voice that I was really scared. I’ve seen them my whole life and have never been afraid.”

The alligator encounter happened near Florida’s famous Silver Springs, where deep springs feed the Silver River and the water is so stunningly clear that tourists board glass-bottom boats. The park enforces a no-swimming rule but allows paddlers with canoes, kayaks and paddleboards. Alligators, large turtles, manatees and even a colony of monkeys are commonly seen in the area.

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