Sharks of Florida
Welcome to Florida! Like most states, it is full of interesting things to see and do. Being a peninsula we are known for our beautiful beaches and abundant sea life. You need to be careful when out on the water though.
This article is about some of the sharks that live and travel near Florida. I know that they seem scary, but they are just massive fish that live, swim, and feed in the sea.
In this, it is important to stay vigilant and keep an eye on the flags and warning signs on the many beaches of Florida.
I find that if you understand what you are afraid of the less scary it becomes. It is important to know that UNLESS provoked sharks usually mistake humans for their prey.
They hunt by following the sounds of thrashing and movement in the water. Smelling their prey is also another way of tracking that sharks use, following the Blood and Fish Oil in the water.
It is easier to give and understand information if you start from the biggening. In this part of the article, I will go over what babies are referred to as, and what they need to deal with just trying to live their lives.
Of course, the different Sharks will move their own way when they are older. The babies are PUPS and as you read on, you will find that they are born in shallow waters, with everything they need to make it in the world. They are fully nourished and take to the water like the fish that they are. Since they don’t need to hunt for food for the first few weeks after their birth, they can practice with the full set of teeth that they have.
Really the only thing the pups need to worry about after birth are the bigger predators around them.
That is why they will usually stay in the area of their birth for a few years for safety. But since there are older sharks in the area as well, they need to ‘stay on their toes so to speak’, if they don’t want to be eaten.
In this next part of my article, I will go over some of the many different sharks that live and migrate close to Florida. It will also tell you how to catch and what parts are used for food.
Starting with…
The Dusky Shark
Of the Requiem Sharks the Dusky Shark known by many different names, IS ON the Endangered Species List.
The Species Name for this shark is Carcharhinus Obscurus. The Family Name is Carcharhinidae, with the Order being Carcharhiniforms. They live both on and offshore. Weighing in at Three Hundred & Fifty to Seven Hundred & Sixty-five Pounds. They can get up to Fourteen Feet Long, thus, making the Dusty Shark one of the largest that are in its family.
The Female Dusty Shark like most species are found to be larger than the Males and come in at about Eleven-eight Feet Long, while the Males are usually measure in at about Eleven-one Foot in Length.
Coming to reaching full maturity at around age Twenty, this makes the Dusky Shark a slow-maturing shark that is able to live up to Fifty Years Old. With a nomadic lifestyle, it may be a long time in between meeting up with males to mate, so the Female is able to store sperm for a prolonged period of time.
With Upper Teeth having a Saw-edge, hidden under its Round Nose, the Dusky Sharks Body is Long, and that length extends in the Long Pectoral Fins that have a Sickly Shape. The sloping of the First Dorsal Fins and their backs that have Interdorsal Ridges show off their coloring just beautifully. Beginning on the Ventral Side it starts a White and gradually changes to Blue Gray that also covers the Dorsal Fins.
Eating Bony Fish, Rays, Cephalopods, and other Sharks. There are also Marine Mammals, Sea Turtles, and Crustaceans. The Pelagic Fish don’t even escape the menu. Fish like Herring, Mackerel, Flying Fish, Anchovies, Tuna, and more. Since their diets are so similar to that of Tiger Sharks the trash that people have carelessly dumped into the ocean.
Being able to eat One-tenth their total body weight at one time, their huge size makes they them a danger to humans. There are Six attacks on file with ‘International Shark Attack File’. There were Three unprovoked and One fatal attack on humans.
Thriving in waters with temperatures between Sixty-six and Eighty-two-degrees Fahrenheit. Warm and Tropical Waters globally. They have been found on the outer continental shelf to the Pelagic Waters, which go as deep as One Thousand Three Hundred Feet. They share the Oceanic Waters alongside their cousins the Pelagic Silky Sharks and Inshore Sandbar Sharks.
The Dusky Shark can be found all over the world. Places like Japan, China, Vietnam, Australia, and Taiwan. The Canary Islands, Sierra Leone, Portugal, Senegal, Morocco, Spain and Maderia. They have been in the Arabian, Red, and Mediterranean Seas, the Pacific Ocean and Bay of Bengal.
Because of their big fins they are the shark species that are highly sought after. Their Liver Oil is processed and used in making Vitamins. Meat and Hide are also used for various things.
The IUCN or ‘International Union for Conservation of Nature’ has put the Dusky Shark on the Endangered Lists Worldwide. Because of their popularity their numbers have been Dropping Steadily in the Last Decade.
Caribbean Reef Shark
Actually, considered Mesopredators rather than an Apex Predator in Isolated Environments like an Offshore Atoll. With a diet of large Bony Fish that inhabit the same ecosystem, there are also Groupers and Barracudas in the diet. With their ability to be able to hear high frequencies they are able to track swimming fish around them.
Being faithful to the same site, the Caribbean Reef Sharks are commonly known to spend their entire life in the location of one reef. The Western Atlantic Ocean is where they are overfished along this region.
The Lighthouse Reef Atoll has been known to be the home for the large mature Females. They have been known to have Six pups in a year.
Needing plenty of food like spawning aggregations, the large Bony Fish, Crustaceans, along with Cephalopods like Octopi and Squid.
Occasionally making a dive of Three Hundred Meters the Caribbean Reef Shark inhabits waters that are Shallow. They have been seen throughout the Southwest Atlantic Oceans, Western Central, Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean Sea towards Brazil.
Due to their small range, they are considered to be endangered because of the Targeted Fishing, Causing Extinction in that area. However, they are incredibly important for the tourism industry. Honduras, the Bahamas, and Belize places that have Coral Reefs for the Caribbean Reef Shark and draw divers from all over the world.
** Fun Fact**
Doctor Eugenie Clark discovered a Caribbean Reef Shark in Mexico. It was inside of a cave underwater; this cave was special because it was equipped with a high current. The Caribbean Reef Shark was able to rest inside of this wonderful current and they were able to sleep. There was no need to worry about swimming around to keep the water running through their gills.
Sand Bar Shark
The Carcharhinus Plumbeus or Sand Bar Shark has a status that STATES IS ‘ENDANGERED’. Like the Tiger Shark, they are found in waters that are temperate and tropical.
Sand Bar Sharks tend to stick to the Shallow Coastal Waters around Harbors, Estuaries, the Continental Shelf, Bays, and Islands. They also enjoy areas with Bottoms that are Muddy and Sandy. Liking to stay at Deeper Levels and have rarely been sighted on the surface, they frequent waters that are Shallow, while avoiding Freshwater.
With a Rounded and Blunt Mouth that is Wider than its Depth. This shark is Full-bodied with Pectoral and Dorsal Fins that are large and a tail that is quite sturdy. This medium built shark has a shape that could be considered classic.
Sandbar Sharks can grow to Six-half Feet, and up to Eight Feet. Weighing in at about One Hundred Pounds, and up to Two Hundred Pounds.
The bottom of their bodies starts with White that slowly transitions to the Brown/Bronze, followed by a Dark Gray at the top. There are no color patterns that are on the Caudal Fins or Dorsal Fins, but they are Dark in Shading.
With better feeding techniques and hunting skills, this opportunistic shark feeds around the clock. Being more Active During the Night rather than the Daytime, the Sandbar Shark has a diet that ranges from Bottom Feeders like Shrimps, and Hard-shell Mollusks to Crabs to small Bony Fish and Squid, Octopi, and Cartilaginous Fish.
As the Male reaches the lengths of about Four-half to Five Foot, they have reached Sexual Maturity. The Female is usually reach about Four-half to Five-half Feet.
With this species of shark, the breeding time is different according to Which Hemisphere they are in. With the Norths Time being Early Summer, then Late Fall and Early Winter in the South.
After the Mature Male has selected a Female that he wants to mate with and proceed to Follow Her.
Sometimes (I feel it’s every time) resulting permanent scars, the Male will bite and nip the Female between the Gills and Dorsal or Pectoral Fins, until the Female agrees to breed with him and rolls over.
Depending on the geographical location, and the size of the Mother. The gestation time will vary between Eight and Twelve Months. Leaving the Mother giving birth to a litter of Six and up to Thirteen Live Pups, the Larger the Female the more Pups they are able to give birth to. Leaving them completely on their own, shortly after they have given birth.
Being Viviparous Animals, the Mother is able to connect to the Embryo through the Placenta. Selecting Shallow Waters near Shore with a ratio of one-to-one with the Females and Males that she gives birth to. The Pups stay in the area of the nursery until they gather enough confidence to travel to Deeper Water.
The Juvenile Sandbar Sharks tend to stay in the nursery to Late Fall and proceed to congregate in schools to travel into Deeper Waters. They stay there until they return the following Summer to return to the Shallows again. Another way of viewing it is a ‘Snowbird’ shark.
They continue the on their Seasonal Migration like this for Five Years. Moving from Shallow to Deep Waters is an important to know, because animals have different habits that make it easy to Protect them.
When the time comes for the Migration people are able to make the preparations for protecting not only the Sharks BUT the People as well. It is also a suitable time for Scientists to study them. Just like with the Sea Turtles that lay their eggs on the beach.
If we can keep the beaches under protected watch as the Sea Turtles lay their eggs, and later as the eggs hatch and they find their way to the sea. In order to protect not only the beaches, we put up signs and flags, but the areas that the Migrating Sharks are more likely to visit are not as protected. Thus, producing shark attacks.
Being Classified as ‘Highly Migratory’ the Sandbar Shark, Adult Females usually Migrate alone, while the Males Travel in schools.
Discovering that they appear to move long distances using ocean currents. The movements are stimulated by the changes in the water’s temperature. Believed that the Sandbar Shark will migrate and move in Deeper Water than they would normally dive too.
The Sandbar Shark are well equipped with abilities to make them excellent apex predators. The Micro Electrical Fields generated by Sea Life are easily detected. Along with their Fantastic Eyesight so that they can see in the Dark Waters. They have Extreme Sensitivity in their Olfactory Abilities and Vibrations.
The Sandbar Shark is believed to be able to live for more than Thirty Years.
The Sandbar Shark is listed as Lower Risk/ Near Threatened by the ‘IUCN Red List’. In the Western North Atlantic they have been Overfished. ‘NOAA Fisheries Service High Migratory Species Division’ requires that if a Sandbar Shark has been caught in ‘Federal’ or ‘State Waters’, it needs to be released immediately without being taken out of the water since the Year 2008. The shark is to have minimal injuries and NO TOOLS like gaffs are to be used.
Being called a Game Fish they are caught by the Sport Anglers with a rod and reel. They are also caught on hook-and-line and bottom nets.
In some places basically the whole shark will be used. The Liver is taken for the Oil that is rich in Vitamins, with their Fins as Soup. Their Meat is Dry Salted, Smoked, and of course Fresh and Frozen. Not even their Hides go to waste as the Leather along with some other items as well.
While the newly born Sandbar Sharks and the Juveniles need to worry about falling prey to other sharks along with larger fish, the adult doesn’t need to worry about many predators. Aside from humans and Tiger Sharks the adult Sandbar Shark has few problems.
With them being found in waters that are warm, they can be found in places like Gokova, Turkey where businesses in Bonchuk Bay. These people will take tourists out to watch the Sandbar Sharks safely, just like Oahu of the Hawaiian Islands.
Blacktip Shark
Blacktip Sharks are found in the Warm Temperatures of the Tropics. This Pursuit predator has the Coastal Waters as their habitat. This shark is classified as a Medium-size shark that has Blacktips on the Tail, Pectoral, and Dorsal Fins.
With the Anal Fin being left White; this Torpedo-Shaped Shark has often been mistaken for the Spinner Shark. Known for spinning at least Three-times in the air before touching down again.
Living in Estuaries and Bays, they are often in Coral Reefs and Coastal Waters. They get to about Five-Feet, Five-Inches Long and are about Fifty-Five Pounds. Like most shark species the Females are larger than the Males, with the largest on record being Six-Feet, Eight-Inches in Length.
Mating by Internal Fertilization, thus, giving birth every Two Years, to Four–Eleven Pups (babies). The Pups are left by their Mother in Shallow-Waters ‘Nurseries’ so that predators do not prey on them.
Eating mostly Bony Fish, they also prey on Stingrays, Shrimp, Cephalopods, and Crustaceans. They also eat Smaller Sharks and are even into Cannibalism, eating Blacktip Pups.
Being able to detect a piece of fish in Ten-billion-parts, the Blacktip is known to have excellent senses of smell. With specialized cells in their Snouts that are called ‘Electroreceptors’. They allow the shark to detect prey that is nearby by the Electric Current from the trashing. This leads them to chase after trawl nets and the fishing boats discarded catch.
Commonly seen by anglers and swimmers the Blacktip Shark is one of the most common among those that occupy the Gulf of Mexico’s Coast.
The Blacktip Shark is known to be a meat highly regarded in Indian, America, Mediterranean, and Mexican markets. The Fins of the Blacktip Shark are also seen the Eastern Asian Markets.
The Blacktip Shark IS NEAR Extinction, because their habitat has been destroyed by Bottom Trawls and Boats. They are also being Overfished and the Inshore Nurseries being Destroyed.
The Class is Chondrichthyes, the Order is Carcharhiniforms ‘a Ground Shark’, the Family is Carcharhinidae ‘Requiem Sharks.’
Tiger Shark
Getting to the lengths of about Eighteen-Feet-Long and reaching up to about Two-Thousand Pounds. The Tiger Shark is the Second Largest predatory shark, Second only to the Great White.
The characteristics of the shark’s body are the reason behind the name. Juvenile Tiger Sharks will have Darker Vertical Stripes on their Body, which fade as they come to adulthood.
Being known for eating almost everything that they find and aggressive predators. With many varied species of Sealife are within his diet. Things like Sea Snakes, Stingrays, Invertebrates, Smaller Sharks, Sea Turtles, Marine Mammals, and scavenged the Dead Animals that they come across. They even eat Seabirds as well.
Several of them have been known to EAT TRASH!! Things like Plastic, Wood, Metal, Fishing Gear, along with other trash that has been CARELESSLY thrown into our oceans. When they come across something that they Can’t Digest they have the ability to PURGE their Stomachs.
They apparently do the purging more often than one may think. Just like when they eat Sea Turtles. Since they cannot digest the shell, when the meat is digested, they are able to Flip Their Stomachs Inside Out and purge the shell. Followed by the Tiger Shark Swallowing Their Stomachs Back Into their body and it gets pushed back into the right place.
Mating through Internal Fertilization they will give birth to Ten, Eighty, or more Live Pups. With the average being about Thirty to Thirty-five Pups. They are an egg while they carried inside the Mother that Hatches Before the Mother gives birth.
Being natural predators even just after birth, Tiger Sharks will eat Invertebrates and Coastal fish. Even though the Tiger Sharks have no natural predators, the Juveniles are known to be eaten by other sharks that are nearby. This includes the adult Tiger Sharks as well.
For this reason, among others, the Juveniles are usually seen around Protected Bays and Estuaries. Adults, however, are usually seen in High-energy Coral Reefs, and Open Coast.
The Tiger Shark has been seen Around the World in Waters that have Temperate and Tropical Waters, they more than likely even travel along some Island Chains. Some have been seen in waters that are as deep as One–Thousand–One–Hundred and Fifty Feet Deep.
There are Experts that Consider the Tiger Shark to be Threatened with ‘Near Extinction’. They have been caught in Fisheries by Accident but are Also Targeted. Since there aren’t they have a reputation for biting, in some places that have made efforts in order to Control the Population.
Hammerhead Shark
The Hammerhead shark has Nine species in the family. Together with Great, Bonnethead, and Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks. There are also Mallethead, Scoophead, and Winghead, and ending with the Smalleye, Smooth, and Whitefin Hammerheads.
With a name that comes from the Shape of its Head, (seff-FAH-low-foils) Cephalofoils, the Hammerhead Shark has eyes on the side of its Hammer Shaped Head.
With the largest of the Hammerheads being the Great Hammerhead. While most can average at about Thirteen Feet in Length. Yet, true to its name, the Great Hammerhead can make it to lengths of Twenty Feet and can weigh up to a Thousand Pounds.
The Bonnethead, however, are the runts of the group. Coming in at around Three Feet Long and weighing in under Seven Pounds.
The Hammerhead likes to hunt along the sandy plains of the seafloor. Using their Eyes on either side of their wide set heads that can see Three Hundred and Sixty-degrees.
Also, finding their prey with the help of Ampullae. Sensors that cover the front of the head, the Hammerhead Shark used its head like a metal detector to find food.
The Hammerheads may have different shaped heads but either it is Smooth, Bonnethead, or Scalloped. They all have the same ability to detect food and with the Big Mouths under their Wide Heads they are able to eat things like Stingrays, Bony Fish, and Squid.
Unlike other sharks the Scalloped Hammerhead will migrate within schools. The Larger Sharks ‘normally the Females’ are on the Inside, and the Smaller Sharks are usually the Males travel on the outside.
Why they migrate is still unknown. Same with the corkscrew spin that they do with their bodies, is it a form of aggression or courtship?
Whatever the reason that they act like this, what is known is that, when a Male picks a Female, they want to mate, they bite them hard to show that they are interested. The two will then swim off and mate.
When the Pups are born there can be up more than Fifty Pups at sometimes. Cephalofoils are curvy and soft so that it will be easier for the mother to give birth to them. As they grow older their head will become harder and take its shape.
Since they reproduce at a slow rate increasing the population will take time. Living all over the world in the Warm Tropical Waters. The Hammerhead Shark is also ON THE ‘Endangered Sharks List’. With all the Loss of Habitat and Pollution the Hammerhead is also Overfished.
Bull Shark
The Carcharhinus Leucas or the Bull Shark are known for their aggression as a large unpredictable predator. The intense bite force of any Cartilaginous Fish cannot be compared with the Bull Sharks.
Their eyesight, however, is not so good. They have Small Eyes and live in waters that are murky, relying largely on their Other Senses to get around.
The Bull Shark is only one of just Two Known Species that are able to go from Saltwater and Travel to Fresh without an issue. They are able to naturally balance the amount of salt in their bodies, wherever they go. It just happens the shark doesn’t need to do anything for this balance to take place.
This species of shark is thought to be behind attacks on Jersey Shore in 1916 and is in the top three with statistics on human attacks. Their poor eyesight may be the cause of this if they were the culprits behind the attacks.
They have been sighted up North to Illinois and Mississippi. However, when they are in Saltwater they stick mostly to the surf and about One-hundred feet deep.
They can get to Six to Eight feet and get up to One hundred to Three hundred pounds. Some have grown over Seven hundred pounds.
Found in the coastal waters that have been warmed by the oceans worldwide. Bull Sharks have been found in the United States to Brazil. Covering from Peru and Gulf of California traveling in the Eastern Pacific. Traveling in the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Australia, Vietnam, to Coasts of Africa and the Ganges River that is in India.
They have been in Rivers and Deep Streams, even Lakes that are Landlocked. They have also been seen in Freshwater Rivers and Lakes like Barhamputra, Brisbane, Potomac, Mississippi, and Amazon Rivers. There are also the Ponchartrain and Nicaragua Lakes.
In Late Summer, Early Fall Bull Sharks will spawn in rivers. The Pups will stay there until they mature so predators won’t get to them. When they mature, they will return to the ocean so that they can reproduce.
The Bull Shark Pregnancy lasts for about Eleven Months.
They tend to hunt by stunning their prey by hitting it and then taking a bite.
There is a fishing season for the Bull Shark and in the United States. For Delaware and Virgina it is closed May Fifteenth through July Fifteenth. It is always open elsewhere.
The limit on the size in Florida is Fifty-four Inches minimum. Texas has it set at Sixty-four Inches. The Bag limit is one per day, per vessel, but Florida has a limit of two. For Mexico they allow those to keep one shark that will count as a Ten-catch limit for fish a day.
In order to catch one of these sharks, a natural bait or a drifting fish can help you catch a Bull Shark. Whole fish that can be used are Barracuda, Mackerel, Benito, and Mullet. If you use Tuna oil it can add to the scent and help your chances.
Bull Sharks will be attracted to chum like any other shark out there. Once they are sighted at the surface, they can be attracted to topwater lures like flies and plugs.
They are edible if once caught they are immediately bled and put on ice. It also needs to be consumed fresh.
Shark Attacks
- Stats and facts may vary depending on the date this article was issued and the dates the law is updated.
Shark attacks involving the Tiger Shark and people, however RARE they are the fatal bites are ever rarer. When it happens the public needs to remember that it is not a targeted attack. The shark is just reacting to the tall tale signs of food being around.
The Tiger Shark has been involved in One Hundred Eleven attacks, Thirty-one of which were fatal. This may seem like a large number but compared to how many sharks that people have killed on purpose.
The Bull Shark has been involved in about One Hundred attacks with Twenty-seven fatalities. With their bad eyesight and the murky waters that they inhabit. There are probably more attacks involving Bull Sharks than there are reported, but that is because the Bull Shark is able to be in both Fresh and Shallow Saltwater. Both places are where humans frequently visit.
With the splashing and from the swimmers in the water. They need to remember that the Sharks are in their HOME where Humans are just a GUEST. When there are attacks it is important to remain calm and not let their minds run wild.
All sharks need to be handled cautiously and always with respect. Since they are in their element it is important to be mindful and stay aware of your surroundings. Make sure to stay caught up on the current local news of shark sightings around where you are going.
Now that you know a little more about the different sharks that travel around Florida. I hope that you are more informed and can find yourself in a better mindset and outlook when coming face-to-face with beautiful creatures that inhabit our many shores.
Information
https://oceana.org/marine-life/blacktip-shark/
https://maralliance.org/species/caribbean-reef-shark/
https://oceana.org/marine-life/tiger-shark/
https://www.aquariumofpacific.org/onlinelearningcenter/species/sandbar
https://www.britannica.com/animal/Galapagos-shark
https://guidesly.com/fishing/fish-species/dusky-shark
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