Following their typical path of migration patterns from cooler to warmer waters, tens of thousands of black tip sharks have been spotted off the East coast of Florida, just a “stone’s throw away” from the beach.
Black tipped sharks don’t have a reputation for being dangerous, and despite being about six feet long, they have teeth that are too small to really do any major damage to a human being.
“One of the ideas may be that as they are getting south, if they are in a suitable habitat, then why not stay,” Stephen Kajiura, an associate professor at Florida Atlantic University said to ABC News. “It’s not unusual, but it’s great to see them.”
Still, careful swimming is advised, especially for parents who have children swimming around at the beach. Although they’re not known to be a deadly species or anything like that, they can still cause great bodily harm and they are the most frequently responsible shark species for bites in Florida.
Black tip sharks are nothing like great white sharks, which are large preadtors and have no problem at all taking a bite out of a human being.
Fortunately, black tipped sharks typically flee from the sight of humans and aren’t likely to go on the hunt, so more than likely, Florida beach-goers will be left alone if they’re responsible and don’t provoke the animals. Common sense is always advised – if you see danger, get away.
Kajiura is currently working with a team to tag 60 of these sharks so that their migration patterns can be tracked and better understood.
Source: ABC News
Plants & Animals
FEB 17, 2016