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Old 01-21-2013, 03:25 PM
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ricki ricki is offline
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The shark migration is a regular thing, first they go south in the fall and then they head back north. Often they are seen moving north in March but a mass sighting was made a few days ago south of Lake Worth Inlet.




"( Sun Sentinel / January 17, 2013 )

Migrating blacktip sharks photographed south of Palm Beach Inlet by Stephen Kajiura, associate professor of biology at Florida Atlantic University, who is studying shark migration patterns. Kajiura's study involves flights every two weeks along the Palm Beach County coast to videotape the sharks."
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/pal...,5572881.photo



A aerial video clip of the 2010 migration off Singer Island


Kiters will remember that Stephen Schaffer was lost in 2010 during the annual migration as a result of a shark attack off south Hutchinson Island while kitesurfing. It is thought that larger sharks such as bull or tiger sharks preying on the smaller blacktop sharks of the migration may have attacked Steve. Spinner and similar blacktop sharks have been given credit for attacks on in the past. "Blacktip sharks are responsible for roughly 16% of the attacks that occur in Florida waters, often striking surfers."

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/galler...ktipshark.html
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/galler...nnershark.html


So, it may be prudent to assume that spinners and the larger, more aggressive trailing sharks may be present off parts of SE Florida for the foreseeable future. There are holes in the migration but it may be difficult to know whether a hole is passing through your area or not. The thing about sharks is that they can bite and statistically will do just that where humans are involved through time particularly in opportunistic circumstances. It is worth keeping that in mind and acting accordingly.


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Last edited by ricki; 01-25-2013 at 01:32 PM.
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