Ten Thousand Sharks Congregate On The Coast Of Florida

Last week there were over 10,000 blacktip sharks seen swimming around off the coast of Palm Beach County. Whilst that might seem like a huge number, it is perfectly normal for this species of shark to migrate en masse to warmer waters during the colder months. What is unusual is this year they seem to have migrated further north so they are within 100 metres of the shoreline. Stephan Kajiura a shark biologist from Florida Atlantic University said it was fascinating they were so close because you could literally stand up against the shoreline and toss a pebble and hit a shark.

No need to panic

Whilst it may sound terrifying to have so many sharks so close to the shore, there is no reason to panic, they are probably more scared of you, then you are of them. Blacktip sharks do not grow past 1.5 metres and whilst they are indeed responsible for the most number of Florida shark attacks, no one has ever been bitten fatally.

“For the most part, if you look historically, we have relatively few bites on people by blacktips in this area, These sharks are really skittish, so when you get in the water, they’re going to scatter and go away.” said Mr. Kajiura.

You can still go swimming

The researcher adds that so long as you follow the instructions given by lifeguards and don’t go into the water at dusk and dawn, there is no need to avoid the water during the day. What Mr. Kajiura is more interested in is finding out why the blacktip sharks have decided to stay so close to Palm Beach this year instead of heading further South. Another mystery is why the sharks have appeared a little later than usual. It is speculated that perhaps El Nino is responsible because it kept the East Coast waters unseasonably warm at the end of last year.

Sharks being tagged

In order to solve the mystery, the researcher in non-invasively tagging the sharks so he can track where they are travelling to all year round and how they are behaving. So far 32 individual sharks have been tagged out of a target of 60 in total. The goal is to work out the migration patterns of the species and how they are changing. Whatever the reason, it is incredible to see such majestic creatures chilling out so close to humans.