The pandemic may have dominated news cycles this year, but 2020 was also filled with curious, heartwarming and heart-wrenching stories that had little to do with the virus.
Here's a look at the top six most-viewed (non-coronavirus related) videos on NBC 6 from this year.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
Family Warns Against TikTok ‘Skullbreaker Challenge' After Miami-Dade Teen Hurt
In February, a stunt known as the "skullbreaker challenge" went viral on TikTok.
One high school freshman at South Dade Senior High School told NBC 6 she had been bullied into participating in the trend, which ultimately led to a trip to the hospital.
The teen's family called for action after the incident, alleging that the school should not have allowed the TikTok challenge to take place on campus.
Great White Shark Unama'ki Pings Off Key Largo
A massive Great White shark was gliding through the waters just south of Miami in early November, shortly after pinging off Vero Beach.
Unama’ki, one of the largest Great Whites ever tagged, "pinged" at 5:46 a.m. off Key Largo on a Thursday. The 2,000 pound, 15-foot-long marine animal also pinged Sunday off Vero Beach, according to OCEARCH. The non-profit research organization tags sharks to keep track of their movement and activity.
Unama’ki was first tagged in Nova Scotia last September. She is the second largest white shark OCEARCH has tagged in the northwest Atlantic.
Man Caught on Camera Rescuing Puppy From Alligator's Grip in Lee County
A man was caught on camera jumping into a pond to save his small dog from an alligator's grip near Estero, Florida.
NBC affiliate WBBH-TV reported that the man, Richard Wilbanks, was sitting in his lawn chair when the gator emerged and latched onto his new puppy Gunner before dragging it into the water.
“Instincts just took over. Adrenaline kicked in and I just went right into the water after the gator and Gunner,” Wilbanks told WBBH.
Gator Attacks Kayaker in Heart-Stopping GoPro Video
Heart-stopping GoPro video from July caught the moment an alligator slammed into a kayaker, tipping him over into a North Carolina river.
Video Shows Powerful Waterspout That Became Tornado in South Florida
A powerful waterspout that became a tornado was seen in the area of Golden Beach near Aventura in late August.
The National Weather Service reported the waterspout on a Wednesday afternoon.
Officials said the waterspout was produced by a thunderstorm before it moved briefly onshore as a tornado, which was later classified as an EF0, the weakest tornado on the Enhanced Fujita scale.
Navy Blue Angels' Flyover Sought to Bring Hope to South Florida Healthcare Workers
It’s now a memory — a moment on a sunny South Florida Friday when time stopped.
The famous Blue Angels' jet engines made their way across much of South Florida in May, heading to the area's largest medical centers to send a 'thank you' to healthcare workers from the sky.
The jets were flying a just under 300 miles and hour, so it didn’t take them more than 25 minutes to make the trek from north Broward all the way to Homestead and then back up western Miami-Dade and West Broward to Coral Springs.
