Scientist reports tens of thousands of sharks off Florida coast

More than 10,000 blacktip sharks have finally arrived off the coast of Palm Beach, Fla.-long after they were supposed to show up.

Cue the Jaws theme song, because they are sharks – thousands and thousands of blacktip sharks, who, like your grandparents, favor Florida’s temperate climate and warmer waters when the cold kicks in up north. Dr. Kajiura studies the migration of sharks and has been surveying them from the skies since 2011.

According to the professor, there are literally tens of thousands of sharks swimming in the waters from Palm Beach to Singer Island.

“There are literally tens of thousands of sharks right adjacent to shore, and certainly many more than that, farther off shore, that we’re simply not seeing in video surveys”. Researchers remain clueless as why the sharks are attracted towards Palm Beach’s coastline.

That might sound terrifying, but don’t panic – blacktip sharks are probably more scared of you than you are of them. Ocean waters are warmer overall, which could mean that sharks didn’t feel the need to migrate south until later in the year than usual.

One of the photos researchers shared on Instagram shows a paddle boarder not too far away from the massive group of sharks.

Kajiura is planning on tagging some of the sharks to help study their migration patterns. Lauderdale area. The sharks are also a little later than usual, with the species normally showing up in the area in mid-January. “They are that close”, Kajiura told CBS12. “Thousands of sharks off Palm Beach and up to Jupiter”, they reported.

“The sharks are not out to get you, and if they wanted to bite you, there’d be ample opportunity”, Dr. Stephen Kajiura told Christian Science Monitor.

Part of his research consists of aerial surveys. In fact, there were high concentrations off the Jupiter Inlet. You could throw a pebble and literary strike a shark. Rather skittish creatures, however, they are more likely to take off when humans are in the water, experts say. “But in this clear water, they can easily see you’re a human, not a fish”. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has no record to that effect.

While migration is normal for blacktip sharks this time of the year, seeing such an enormous population and at this particular location is not usual.