My guess is this was shot using some kind of camera stabilizer such as a Glidecam or a Flycam or Steadicam. It looks to me like the shot was just a 'walk by' passing the flowers laying on the beach, But I think the zoom effect you talk about is due to the motion being 'sped-up' in post production at the point where the camera is closest to the flowers, then the speed was dialed back to 'normal' as the camera moves away. That's my guess anyhow.
Wayne
