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Subscribe to RSSThousands of sharks, heading north after migrating to the south for winter, prompted beach closures along South Florida's Atlantic coastline. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
By Jennifer Viegas
DiscoveryNews
The thousands of sharks that emptied Florida beaches this week are later than usual, but their purpose sounds like the usual spring break itinerary: gulping down food, having sex and seeking warmth, according to shark experts.
The dramatic aggregation consists primarily of blacktip and spinner sharks, with hammerhead, bull, lemon and tiger sharks also in the mix, according to Derek Burkholder of the Guy Harvey Research Institute and Nova Southeastern University.
"During this migration, tens of thousands of sharks are moving up the coast to waters further north where they will spend the summer months before heading back down here for the winter," Burkholder told Discovery News. "The sharks can be found very close to shore -- within a few feet -- as they follow baitfish."
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George Burgess, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research based at the Florida Museum of Natural History, likens the mass grouping to people lined up to get into a football stadium. He said that sharks are actually backed up, trying to get in the warm water stream.
"Nookie is going on too," he said. "Sharks tend to mate during this time."
Both he and Burkholder remarked that the migration is happening later this year.
"Sharks are temperature dependent. The ups and downs of global climate change can affect water temps," Burgess explained.
Humans, he said, are no different, since we can tolerate some climates more so than others.
"That's why a bunch of people live in Florida, but not at the North Pole," he deadpanned.
NBC News
A "swarm" of blacktips sharks, and others, has filled the waters off of Florida for spring break.
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The later migration coincided perfectly with this year’s spring break, when numerous college students head to beach towns to relax and party. Florida is the most dangerous state in the United States, in terms of shark attacks, and such encounters are at a 12-year high now.
The sharks in the swarm are known to bite people, but usually these are “hit and run” attacks, Burgess said. Researchers actually document these attacks to track the movement of the big shark congregation as it moves northward.
The good news is that "humans are not on the sharks' normal menu," Burkholder said, adding that it's "almost always a case of mistaken identity, especially in areas where the water is murky or near dusk or dawn, where the shark bites a swimmer thinking they are their normal fish prey."
"This is also the reason that most bites from these species are not fatal attacks," he added. "When the shark realizes its mistake, it lets go and does not continue the attack."
He and Mahmood Shivji, director of both the Guy Harvey Research Institute and Save Our Seas Shark Center USA, believe the swarm is misleading, though, since it can give the false impression that shark populations are booming.
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"Just because we now see swarms of sharks does not mean there are more sharks," Shivji, who is also a professor at the Oceanographic Center, explained. "The reason we are now aware of them is because people are increasingly taking aerial pictures, which was not done until a few years ago. With all the sharks being overfished, it could very well be if such pictures were routinely taken 15 years ago, we might have seen swarms 2-3 times as big."
Nevertheless, swimmers and other recreational water users would do well to take heed. Burgess said the migration would be heading to places like the Chesapeake Bay, waters off of North Carolina, and parts of New Jersey. Some sharks might follow waterways from East to West, such as going deeper into the Gulf of Mexico.
"If you've been in such waters before, you have probably been 10 to 15 away from a shark and just didn't know it," Burgess said.
Leave a Comment:
Seriously, nookie was the best term the writer could find to explain sharks reproducing. That's funny.
that was a quote, so don't pin it on the writer
Right, that was the best term the scientist could come up with. I guess it's short for the scientific term "nookoitus"...
I don't see the humor in nookie but do find it descriptive and certainly to the point. Also the correlation with Spring Break is close except, for the sharks, after the night of nookie there isn't a hang over and what did I do?
Shark Week on Discovery has been responsible for a lot of new data we would have never had access to. Its clear Sharks environmental temperature is a big deal, it basically dictates what and when they do things. I have no idea if its caused by warming or cooling, but its pretty clear that Sharks have survived for millions of years by knowing when to move on and they seem to be telling us something for sure..
You could probably snorkel with the Black Tips and Spinners with no problems but Bull and Tigers are a different story, thats some serious fire power in the shark world.
The ugly sharks try to get the other sharks to feed on the drunk kids so they can get some nookie too. It's science.
"The thousands of sharks that emptied Florida beaches this week are later than usual, but their purpose sounds like the usual spring break itinerary: gulping down food, having sex and seeking warmth, according to shark experts."
Food, sex and shelter - what an astonishing concept! I wonder if any other creatures on the earth follow this behavior...
sharks like it when the kids eat snickers !
I see what you did there, Ms. Viegas! Way to manipulate that sentence structure!!
I haven't heard that term since high school, or maybe shortly after. Heck, that was decades ago.
yeah, they probably don't even get each other's name and number.
If they eat a few spring breakers, no great loss really.
Yeah...watch out for the land sharks!
NoLiberty:
"Loan" sharks have been known to replicate this behavior. Those are the only other ones I can think of.
Ped in SF:
Oh, good grief. I'm on the hook for student loans and you suggest "no great loss"? Get a life. $$ our god aren't they, weren't they, or are not they? lol.
On well....respect your opinion. We are all "shark" meat when it really comes down to it. They are zeroed into all of us. Ha!
They would have used the term "hooking up" but it had bad connotations from fishing.
4thDown, sorry if you were offended - my post referred to "spring breakers" and not students in general. Perhaps you're not one of the party-til-you-puke crowd - if not, my post did not refer to you.
Ped in SF:
I'm not offended at all. My college years are long past. My comment about student loans had to do with my offspring, not me. lol.
I enjoyed your comment. I believe that "Sharks" will be sharks and our "kids" will be kids. Bless the Beasts and the Children.
So I see why they are in florida... But why are they joining swimming with kids?
Looking for food?
What easier meal could there be than dumb, drunk college kids?
gday:
What used to be "drive" thrus are now becoming "dive" thrus?
spring lunch break
Tender young meat...mmmmmmmmm
ummm.....because they're hungry?
i agree exactly!!!
Why are sharks joining kids for Spring Break? Because kids are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.
The sharks heard that Obama likes Tiger (sharks) and are hoping he comes back for dinner; they like dark meat.
You know you have an illness and it should be addressed before you end up hurting yourself or others with your Obama obsession !!! I hope you have a family that can help you !! Talk to your doctor or a member of the clergy.
"dark meat"? Really? I guess racism can be inserted into virtually any conversation.
Dark meat is usually the thigh and calf muscle, which is the part of the body most often bitten in a Shark attack......or he could just be racially insensitive.
I think we need a bigger boat.
Hey you throw a bunch of fresh "tuna" in the water .....and of course the sharks will show up
I remember when Easter Break/Spring Break was on or around Easter Sunday. Now some of these schools will have a Spring Break as early as March 1st week when it is to cold to swim in Florida. They should call that Winter Break. New Smyrna Beach has large shark populations year round and mostly locals go in the water.
how about they are hungrey as the ocean is over fished so they are looking for food anyone for a dip as in tarter sauce 98 % of sharks say it takes the bitter taste out of humans
Because that's where the food is!
If there were any better time to get rid of the x-wife...
Kidding... I'm JUST kidding folks.
But, seriously...
I also do weddings and club meetings... :-)
I've seen wives that would eat the shark...or send it home to mama shark with hurt feelings!
I spent an hour or so splashing around in the shoreline on Singer Island and when I went back to my room at the beachfront Hilton, I walked out onto the balcony, looked down and right where I had been, probably only 20 feet away, the clear blue water was littered with hundreds of sharks. A few minutes later, all of the swimmers were being told to get out of the water. I learned my lesson that day--as much as I LOVE the ocean, don't go into it unless you're okay with not coming back out again. Damned if I'm gonna end up as fish food.
I just love how the article states "why sharks are joining kids for spring break".. Um I believe its the parents and kids joining the sharks for spring break Who LIVE IN THE OCEAN.. Not the other way around LOL.
Don't you love how humans think we own EVERYTHING, even the ocean? I don't know if it's just an American capitalist thing or not, but it's incredibly arrogant.
"capitalist" and "arrogant" - definitely American traits!
And the number one answer is...the sharks in Florida must be members of PETA...predators for the eating of tasty adolescents.
Science!
for all of the derps focusing on the title of the article as opposed to the content:
the writer was just saying that the migration of the sharks is timed with spring break this year. nothing more, nothing less. wasn't trying to instill a sense of ownership over the ocean. wasn't trying to provocatively say the shark population is out of control. wasn't saying they sharks were here because they knew it was spring break time and there would be tons of people in the water!
they are migratory animals with more of a right to the ocean than us. so unbuckle your high chair and jump on down to the rest of the people in the real world that can interpret a meaning without thinking there has to be some kind of subliminal undertone in everything a news agency puts on their website.
And when you find a sense of humor, climb down off your high horse and join those of us who can both comprehend the article and find humor in the title.
Hehehehehe... I know what's really happening... Darwin at work... Its what happens when a large group of inebriated college students who are totally self-involved and feel entitled to everything wade into the water saying "Here fishie, fishie, fishie"... and yes.. I know its normally spelled fishy... :)
Why sharks are joining kids in Florida for spring break
The kids are more tender than the older people and easier to swallow.
Because drunk college kids are an easy meal.
What about cougars?
When I was that age, sharks and cougars is where it was at!
Because they are tender and tasty?
Nookie...derivative (probably) from the Dutch word neuken, which means the same thing as the f-bomb.
Sharks are like dogs: Because they can. ;>)