Shark!

[kingcat]

Wednesday at Ormand beach I was hanging ten on my surf board (or maybe I was floating 1 on my body board). Just then, my daughter and everyone on the beach started yelling "get out" and "Hurry" (which by then I thought I was hurrying).
Anyway, as soon as I got out of the water I looked back and about twenty five feet out there was a six or seven foot bull shark making his way up the coast in two to three foot of clear Atlantic water. I was maybe five foot beyond where he travelled and had I not been lightning quick stumbling my way through the waves and into my family's concerned arms I may have been staring at him face to face.
I swear I thought I saw him cast a "what a maroon" smirk at me as he wiggled on..

That will empty a beach pretty quickly.
Within thirty minutes everything was normal though.

[Darrell KSR]

Exciting.

Few years ago we saw this in Destin, but I was on the beach when it came by. I was shocked it was so close. Destin-333.jpgDestin-334.jpgDestin-332.jpg

[Doc]

You should see some of the drone and helicopter images along the FL coast during migration season

[kingcat]

When the water is murky it's not an issue Doc. Haha.

[kingcat]

One other exciting moment was seeing a huge marlin jump just at the sandbar. He was at least six foot long but maybe more. It was beautiful as he cleared the water by a longshot.
I had never seen either in person in the wild.

Lots of feeder fish (baitfish) were schooling while we were there.

[kingcat]

Of course, our old friends were present quite often.

dolphin.jpg

[kingcat]

Exciting.

Few years ago we saw this in Destin, but I was on the beach when it came by. I was shocked it was so close. Destin-333.jpgDestin-334.jpgDestin-332.jpg

Wow!

[blueboss]

IIRC Daytona/ Ormond beach has more shark attacks in the US than any other US beaches.

I bumped into (literally) a 4-5’ bull shark on Amelia Island one morning. Ft Clinch St Park has some pretty desolate beaches, I used to like to surf fish there. At the time there was a pretty pronounced trough that ran parallel to the beach’s edge,that was just about waist deep. On the other side the water shallowed to shin deep, any way I was coming out of the water and stepped down into the trough, as I waded through it to climb out on the beach side I bumped in to something with my knee that was pretty stout. As I climbed out I looked back/down to see a bull turning around and coming back around.

I guess luckily it wasn’t hungry or it wasn’t interested in me... my wife was standing there and flipped out when she saw it surface as it turned.

Lucky day...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kingcat]

Boss, that would have cost me a pair of swimming trunks. Id have jumped out of them..
..and have been better off doing so.

[blueboss]

Boss, that would have cost me a pair of swimming trunks. Id have jumped out of them..
..and have been better off doing so.

Troughs are pretty common on the Atlantic side, and depending on tide’s coinciding with dusk and dawn they can be pretty lively. When tides comes in there can be a lot of bait fish feeding in them, and where there’s food there’s food. When tides go out they “can”leave some larger stuff kind of trapped in them.

Always eerie stepping down in the troughs, especially in the early morning and evenings. Coming out of the water I always like to have a wave on my back side to lift me out quickly.

As Doc eluded to the migration of the black tips is pretty impressive. Most people don’t know and probably are better off not knowing there are literally 1000’s of Black tips 40,50,60 yards off the beach moving parallel to the beach with stragglers moving in and out closer as they travel.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[blueboss]

This was off WPB


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[suncat05]

I steer clear of all sharks, but especially the bull sharks. They are probably the most unpredictable of all sharks. Any time I am in the water and I see a bull shark, I'm coming out of the water.
I do not want to be on the shark menu.

[Doc]

This was off WPB


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yep....typical during shark migration. I have a good friend who is a marine biologist and does some shark population studies. Some crazy stories

[blueboss]

We usually do a couple of weeks in FL annually, typically in May. Amelia Island is one of our favorite spots, one of the reasons I like it is for the surf fishing. It has been my experience, at least in May, the surf off of Amelia Island is pretty sharky. I’ve caught quite a few sharks, including several 4’-5’ black tips less than 60 yards off the beach.

I recall catching a small hammerhead down past St Augustine, about a 3 footer. A lady with her young son came to see it close up as I got it up on the beach. With the exception of a few pompano I catch and release everything I catch... anyway the lady was appalled that I put the hammerhead back in the water because her kids were swimming in the ocean. I didn’t want to tell her the reality of what’s in the surf on a regular basis, I figured she was better off not knowing.

Lately we’ve been doing the gulf side, and even though I’ve caught a lot less sharks in the gulf than I have on the ocean side, they’re still there. I don’t specifically fish for sharks, my target is pompano, reds, whitening, and sheepshead off the jetties. Other than sharks, the fish that I’ve caught in the surf that could ruin your day include, sting rays, lion fish, and even a stone fish.

Shuffle your feet, and stay away from bait balls...



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[blueboss]

Just saw on shark week, New Smyrna Beach which is just a bit south of Daytona is the shark attack capital of the world...

They attribute it to murky/turbid water, and a lot of bait fish in and around the Indian River estuary.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kingcat]

My daughter informed me there were pictures on FB of the shark in question. And that most reported it to be a hammerhead shark which was what I also heard said on the beach that day.

I had a good view I (without glasses) thought, and it sure looked like a bull to me. I appear outnumbered though.

[blueboss]

My daughter informed me there were pictures on FB of the shark in question. And that most reported it to be a hammerhead shark which was what I also heard said on the beach that day.

I had a good view I (without glasses) thought, and it sure looked like a bull to me. I appear outnumbered though.

Hammerheads are pretty aggressive too, they’re no bargain one on one either.

Years ago, I was doing a night dive off WPB. We had set the anchor in about 60 feet of water right at sunset, when a 12-14 foot hammerhead showed up circling the boat. We decided to abort and move to another dive location, the problem was, typically last diver up unsets the anchor.

Dive boss drew the short straw, ex seal, he did not hesitate to roll in and take care of it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kingcat]

Hammerheads are pretty aggressive too, they’re no bargain one on one either.

Years ago, I was doing a night dive off WPB. We had set the anchor in about 60 feet of water right at sunset, when a 12-14 foot hammerhead showed up circling the boat. We decided to abort and move to another dive location, the problem was, typically last diver up unsets the anchor.

Dive boss drew the short straw, ex seal, he did not hesitate to roll in and take care of it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not being a maritime whiz I don't know what that entailed. But I think I'd have spent the remainder of my time onboard with a mop and a bucket on self imposed latrine duty.

[blueboss]

Not being a maritime whiz I don't know what that entailed. But I think I'd have spent the remainder of my time onboard with a mop and a bucket on self imposed latrine duty.

Often times when setting an anchor you drop it and drag it until it digs in. To get the anchor lose you generally just maneuver the boat the opposite direction in which the anchor was set and it releases.

On our training dives they often times would try their best to “snag” the anchor to prevent drift or the anchor becoming loose allowing the boat to drift. There were a lot times we’d leave the boat unattended, and since we were on the bottom last guy would free the anchor and check sign in/out slate.

Last guy was predetermined and he would be last in and last out...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kingcat]

Yeah much like regular lake boating I guess. I hoped you didnt have to dive to the bottom to free the thing

[blueboss]

Yeah much like regular lake boating I guess. I hoped you didnt have to dive to the bottom to free the thing

I was not the dive boss that trip so I was high and dry.

... but, while diving at night, if you see something that could be a threat, shine your light somewhere else and it’s no longer there. If you don’t see it, it’s not there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk