If you were wanting to escape the winter weather by hitting the warm beaches in Florida, you might want to steer clear of the water. Thousands of sharks are migrating right off the coast of some popular beach towns.
Florida Atlantic University biological sciences professor Stephen Kajiura, captured video Friday morning of blacktip sharks invading the waters of Palm Beach, on Florida’s Atlantic coast.
The majority of shark bites that occur in Florida are attributed to this species, but there has never been a fatal attack credited to the blacktip shark in this region, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Blacktips, named by the black markings on the tips of their fins, are common in the warm coastal waters around South Carolina to Texas. The feed on fish, stingrays and squids, and have been known to follow fishing boats and feed on culled catches.
Kajiura started tracking this season’s shark migration on January 15, when when the first sharks were first spotted around Miami Beach. Since then he has taken to the skies in to monitor the path of the school of blacktips up the coast.
“There are literally tens of thousands of sharks a stone’s throw away from our shoreline,” he told CNN affiliate WPEC. “You could throw a pebble and literally strike a shark. They are that close.”
Every winter, thousands of blacktips migrate along the Atlantic coast searching for warmer waters, this coincides with their mating season.
If you are wanting to take the plunge in the Florida waters, at this time Kajiura said the majority of the blacktips are swarming in the seas from Palm Beach to Singer Island and up to Jupiter Inlet.
Kajiura is planning on tagging some of the sharks to help study their migration patterns.
