Are There Sharks in Florida?

A lot of people that don't live in Florida are not familiar with the state of Florida and do share a very common question, are there sharks in Florida? Well, let's talk about that in just a minute. Stay tuned.

Alright. So, are there sharks in Florida? Yes, there are. Obviously, we are surrounded by water here in the state of Florida. So, there are lots and lots of sharks out there. There are so many species. There are Hammerhead sharks, Nurse sharks, Tiger sharks, Bull sharks, there's Blacktip sharks, Whale sharks and just dozens more. Some of these sharks are just a few feet long, and they go up to about 40 feet. So, if I ever spot any of those, I'd probably spazz a little bit. But then again, I know it's probably best to stay calm and kind of steer your way to the opposite direction of wherever you find these sharks.

Now, Florida, there has been some shark attacks there. We're actually the state that has the most shark attacks in the world. There were 28 just in 2021 alone. 17 of those shark attacks were in Volusia County, and that's located in the east central coast along on the Atlantic side of Florida. So, I guess if you're out in that county area, just be very mindful that there has been some some shark attacks, quite a few shark attacks there last year. I'm not sure how many there were any in 2022. But, just that number alone in the previous months, it's a little bit alarming. So, just be cautious while you're out there enjoying the beach in that area.

Now, most of those attacks were from Bull sharks and Blacktip sharks. Probably because they are the ones that are most likely to hang out in shallow waters. So again, here in the Destin area, there has been sightings of Whale sharks and Hammerhead sharks. I think those are pretty cool, especially the hammerhead sharks, but they're no threat to humans, they're not aggressive. However, you know, if you do come across the hammerhead shark, like, maybe let's just say you're in Crab Island and one bumps into you, that's just because they have a blind spot obviously with the way their head is shaped and, you know, their eyes. They may have not have known that they were coming up on you, so don't be alarmed. Again, they are not aggressive, might even pretty cool to see. There's also been some shark sightings in the Navarre Beach area as well. Again, there are just not out there just searching for blood, not out to get you. But, I mean, it's still a cool sighting whether you're up in the condos on a higher floor or if you're out on the fishing pier either in the Navarre Beach or even Fort Walton Beach on the pier. You catch shark sightings. I mean, they're very cool to see. They're rare, but again, there have been sightings that's not like our beaches here in the panhandle are just swarmed with sharks. So, I know that's a concern a lot of people ask us about making sure that it is safe to get out there in the waters. especially the ones with the young ones. But the chances of being attacked by a shark, especially in the Destin area, are very minimal. But of course, there are ways to avoid being attacked by a shark. You can definitely just don't swim too far from the shore, of course, there's some sharks that do kind of frequent the more shallow areas. So, just don't go too far out, especially if you are with your kids out there in the water, just keep them close by you, closer to shore, and make sure that you're in an area to where you can, even if you have to run kind of, do the water run instead of swim to shore. It'll make it a little bit easier to get away if there is a shark sighting out nearby.

Also don't swim at night. You'll never catch me out in more at night because I like to kind of see what's around me, especially the beautiful waters out here on the panhandle. You can easily look down and and see your feet, see your legs. But, however, in the nighttime might not be as easy to see and there could just maybe possibly be that one chance where there's a shark that's swimming real close to the shoreline and you're out there and don't even catch it. So, just make sure just to even avoid that. Don't swim at night, maybe not even at dusk or dawn. Best time to swim be during the day, the peak hour of the day, peak hours of the day.

You obviously don't want to get in the water while you're bleeding too. So, if you're bleeding, of course, there are other risks of that, health risks with getting in the water while you're bleeding. But you also just don't want to attract sharks. Of course, they're going to either have great senses. They'll be able to track you down or track you down so they have blood in the water. Obviously, you have that much blood in the water to where it's going to attract sharks. You probably need to seek attention, I would imagine. So, it's definitely something that you don't want to do, don't go out there while you're actively bleeding.

You also don't want to swim in waters that contain sewage. You know, the the sewage may attract bait dishes, which will obviously attract the sharks. So, you definitely don't want to get in that nasty check of water either, not to say that you would. But there are some people out there that just don't care and will get in any sort of water. You also don't want to wear bright clothing. They're are shark that, you know, they do have great vision. Even if the water is foggy, they'll still be able to catch that contrast of the bright colors that you're wearing. You may want to avoid that as well.

And obviously, the number one thing that you might want to do is to get out of the water if you do see a shark, even if it's at a far distance, still just be safe. Go ahead and just get out of the water and just watch a little shark show from ashore and just make sure that you're safe. I know some people think it would be cool. Maybe it's a, you know, there are sharks out there that are no threat to humans and you might think it's okay to go ahead and chase the shark and and go pet it. However, there, you know, could possibly be a provoked attack to where the shark may feel threatened just come after you. So, you just avoid that situation as well. If you see a shark, just get out of the water.

Well, alright, that's all I have for you today. As far as sharks in Florida, they are out there. So, just be mindful of your surroundings in the areas. There are some beaches that you're not familiar with, or obviously there's a lot of areas that I haven't mentioned. Just do your research and just check out the history of any shark attacks, any shark sightings that they may have. Just so you're aware of what the risk may be in certain areas. But overall, there's minimal chances of you encountering a shark. But if you actually want to encounter sharks, then there are some little tours that you can go on to where you can go swimming with the sharks. So, just look into that too wherever area that you're going to be visiting or go to an aquarium. They have sharks there and exhibits where you can just check them out in the safety of another side of the glass, because they are very, very interesting to watch just not when you're out in the open water face to face. That's that's not as cool, wouldn't think so.

Alright. Well, thank you so much for checking out this video. If you have any questions or want to know more, please feel free to call/text us at 850.320.7757 or email us at Admin@WhittemoreGroupRE.com