Sharks in Florida

[Dragonlady]

Have you heard the news about the massive amounts of sharks congregating in the shallow near shore areas off the coast of Florida? Supposedly they are chasing the schools of fish that are attracted to the warmer water caused by the local powerplant. I hope that nobody goes into the water wearing silver. Black tipped reef sharks and nurse sharks are the main sharks that are in the shallow water, but if there were a great white shark......................?
I must have watched too many Jaws movies.LOL
Sharks usuallly don't attack people.
I saw a black tipped reef shark and a baracuda when I went diving in the keys, but nothing like a groups of around 200 or so like is there now..

[Starmy]

A guy at work was reading us shark attack statistics from some website today. The 2nd highest area was Australia with around 9 attacks this year. The first highest was FL was about 34. They're hypothesizing that the warm waters are drawing them in.

[gregt]

It is mostly black tip and nurse sharks, with a few bull and hammerheads thrown in for good measure.

From what I've heard, unusually high numbers of bait fish are attracting the sharks.

[I RULE]

All this hype is a bunch of BS - woohoo - one boy got seriously injured - the other 36 or whatever the number was were mostly just little nips by some small ones - I forget what kind I think sand sharks?

[gregt]

Short, there have been no attacks in the event we are discussing here. So far, it is simply a massive congregation of sharks.

[olgakurt]

I heard the sharks disapeared as fast as they came. It was reported here that scientists were organizing to study them and they had vanished. I am aware of the yearly congregations off the east coast, but had not heard of any off Tampa before.

One of the reasons that most of the world's reported shark attacks occur in FL is that the warm water draws the PEOPLE in. Sharks are almost always present at beaches and attacks are relatively rare.

I used to surf alot-NC, VA, FL and Maui, but I was knocked off my board in NC in 1995 by what looked like a 8-10' tiger (if you can look while swimming 100 mph) and haven't surfed since. Sat on the beach and shook for a couple hours before I could drive home. Also had my mask taken off by a small shark's tail diving in 0 visibility water in the Chesapeake Bay. Now whenever I go in the water, jaws music plays in my head.

[budhaboy]

when I was little my family and I were out on the Chesapeak Bay in my Grandfathers cabin cruiser - fishin and goofin (I was real young and wanted to fish like my Dad and Uncle) they gave me a small rod and real(more fresh suited than anything)- I was the only one to hook anything and Dad was helping reel it in when all of a sudden he yells "Cut the line, cut the line"Uncle Dave didnt cuz he was busy with the camera- turns out I hooked a 4 foot Hammerhead...supposedly they use the pylons of the Bay bridge as a mating ground or somethin...

[FishDaddy]

Coincidentally with the rash of shark news in the media, this is Shark Week on Discovery Channel. Nigel has put together some great programs about sharks and there is current news as well.
Well worth watching.....makes you really think about trips to the beach!
There are lots of differing opinions, theories and philosophies regarding sharks. About the only absolutes are that we don't know very much about many of these species and anyone entering salt water should have a healthy respect for them.
One very interesting fact from last night's program was that Bull Sharks have been found as much as 2000 miles upriver from the ocean!!! Didn't say which river but I was quite surprised.
Dick:)

[budhaboy]

I think that river was in S. Africa(the fish trapping maze)- they did mention the Mississipi and also in Australia to.

[gregt]

Bulls have been found in the Mississippi as far north as St. Louis.

Keep in mind that you are far more likely to get struck by lightening or get stung by a bee than attacked by a shark. Still, understanding that there is danger when in shallow, murky water is important.

[Mark]

Originally posted by gregt
Bulls have been found in the Mississippi as far north as St. Louis.

Yup, a fisherman even caught one in Arkansas. They have also appeared in the Amazon River.


I pulled this from some shark info. site:
The Bull shark is one of the few that can enter fresh water. It has been found 2500 miles up the Amazon in Peru and 1750 miles up the Mississippi river in America as well as the Zambezi, Tigris, Gambia and the Panama canal. It will enter lakes that are connected to the sea, such as Lake Nicaragua, giving the Bull shark it's many regional common names. Has attacked and killed many pilgrims to the Ganges river, leading it to be mistaken for the Ganges shark - Glyphis gangeticus. The Bull shark was almost certainly responsible for the five attacks that occurred at Matawan creek in North America in 1916 (see Famous Attacks for more details).

[Starmy]

Keep in mind that you are far more likely to get struck by lightening or get stung by a bee than attacked by a shark.
Hmm... I can understand the lightning bolt somewhat, but the bee sting is an odd variable. Almost everyone I know has been stung by a bee, and in that case the likelihood of a fatality or malady is determined by an allergin, not the animal itself.

Of course you're more likely to be stung by a bee than attacked by a shark. That's like saying you're more likely to get a mosquito bite or to have a dog lick you than to be attacked by a shark. They're just not things that can be used to compare odds. ;)

[JRegs]

Hmmm...and it is Shark Week on Discovery channel. Coincidence??

[gregt]

Starmy,

I must have been sleeping when I wrote that. Should have said you are more likely to be killed by a bee sting than fatally attacked by a shark.

[reptilicus]

G'day,
just thought I'd say a couple of things (casn't stay out of these shark threads :))
A few months ago in Sydney some bloke caught a 400lbs bull shark in a net in the Parramatta River, which is the main river that turns into Sydney Harbour. The interesting thing was that this bloke caught it, but it eventually broke the net, and worked it's way back over the side to freedom!
Sometimes off the coast of Western Australia (it's a yearly event with some years better than others), a warm current brings huge aggreggations of baitfish, mainly pilchards and anchovies. They are so thick that the water is black all the way up and down the coast. Consequently, there is a large gathering of predators also. Everything from salmon, tuna, and cobia to sharks and whales. You can literally sit on the cliffs and see hundreds of sharks. They have never caused trouble, and always disperse after a while.
I am surprised the US leads the world in shark attacks. You do have a much higher population than us, however we do have a lot of sharks!
Regards,
Tom

[Starmy]

reptilicus,

You're all just too busy eating vegemite tos pend much time in the water. :p

[budhaboy]

You know us - gotta be Number 1 at everything

[I RULE]

greg - you just get done watching nigels shark week with that bee fact - just saw the same thing. :D

And yeah I am aware that there have been no discussions of shark attacks - but why else would a post about sharks and florida be brought up???

[reptilicus]

On the contrary Starmy, we use the water recreationally more than any other nation in the world.
I would write more but I'm going for a surf now :)
Regards,
Tom

[gregt]

short,

The post was brought up because there was a huge congregation of sharks off anchlote key earlier this week. A couple local tv stations got good footage of hundreds of sharks swimming in the shallow waters. The fact that it is shark week on discovery made it big news. It's a normal occurance, it just doesn't usually get caught on videotape.

[FISH WHISPERER]

If I lived in Elko, NV, I'd be more likely to get zapped by a lightning for an electrical storm from the Ruby Mountains. FACT


If I were to have continued my surfing pursuits as a child, surfing the occupied waters near Bonnie Doon, Half Moon Bay (never, [b]ever ventured out to Maverick's :eek: ) Santa Cruz, etc., I'd far more likely get a taste from a local shark than get zapped from our relatively rare lightening bolts out here. FACT

So, statistically, because most people do not live/surf in coastal waters, of course the odds are in favor of a lightning bolt... What bogus stats... Consider this, for them to be FAIR you would have to have equal exposure to both controls, fair enough? The reason you're far more likely to energized by a several thousand volts is because you're far less likely to be near the sharks.

For most people, they have better odds of winning the lottery than they do getting bitten by a shark, because many people simply don't go near the water. But rest assured, there are far more "per capita" shark attacks in this world than there are lightning bolt zaps. Think about it: Set up a ratio of how many people have exposure to shark attacks, vs. the number of people who have exposure to lightning attacks. I bet there's 1000 landlubbers at least for every 1 person who ventures into the water... So saying your less likely to get jawed by a shark numerically makes sense because proportionately way less people even have the possiblity of getting chewed upon in the safety of their cabin in Idaho... "Whoa, here comes another storm!!!!' :rolleyes:

Does any of this grab anybody? How can we compare shark attacks to lightning zaps, when everybody is fair game for a storm, but only those who swim/surf are exposed to sharks. If sharks could attack on land, and lived wherever lightning striked, ;) I'd bet there be far more shark attacks than lightning attacks. ;)
A person is not "more likely" to die in an car crash than in an airplane crash if they fly everywhere, and drive nowhere.... Sorry, sharks and lightning are not evenly dispensed, so of course the imbalance of "attacks" favor lightning. Allow me to say... DUH to Robin Williams... er, Nigel - his brother!
By the way, if enough sharks start seeing these geniuses feed them "chum", they'll come to demand food from any human arm. I'm being whisked away in dreamland to places like Yosemite, where the "wild bears" now attack at random even in your campsite... Hey, we introduced them to a free meal, and now they damn well expect it. I think these sharks are being taught naughty manners. The image of that shark just feet away from the scurrying swimmer in Florida two nights ago was too sketchy for me!!!

But hey, for my birthday, I'm treatin' myself to a brand new longboard, my last surfboard to add to my quiver. I'm very proud of the surfboards I've kept over the years, and hopefully my son will bust out the "old school" on his Pop's Town&Country Surf Design custom board (which my doesn't successfully support my aging lard anymore!!! :D ) But I'm gonna attack Steamers on an "old man" longboard just to enjoy the freedom... I may not be able to carve like the young bucks anymore, but I'll be happy just to cruise a free ride! :D Trust me, my odds will immediately increase in favor of being chum as opposed to getting the 'ol Ben Franklin Jolt. ;) Your odds change with your location and your activity. I got real scared because we had a shark attack at the very beach where I was planning to go surfing at on the very day, at the very time. It's not like I had a premonition, I just got busy and cancelled. But when I saw the news, I was like, "THANK GOD!!!!!" I have been scared to go way out like I used to, and sit and enjoy the ocean and hope for the "Big One." I've piddled around the smaller waves, and I've caught a shark off the Santa Cruz Wharf... Right where I'll be ... The amount of lightning has squat to do if I get bitten... I'll just make sure I've got plenty of fellow surfers in the water cause THAT'S the only way to decrease my odds!! :D
The sharks scare me in a big way.... But I feel like I've been "scared away" from doing something I once did three times a week. I've got to do it again... I long to take a wave in so my girls, son and wife can point and clap as "Daddy" carves like the Pineapple he once was!!! Thanks for allowing me to reminisce. I want to be the oldest person with multiple sclerosis who can still catch waves!!!!!! :D