Shark

[mikecat adjuster]

My camera is broken. Bad news. But I still have been venturing out and seeing things.

Today I was out at Grayton Beach at the state park. I took my daughter out toward the second sandbar and met with my brother who is here from Louisiana with his kids.

We were collecting a great assortment of shells and many sand dollars that were already white/dead. Rather than search on the second sandbar, we stayed in the middle section, deeper than the sandbars, that offers a different assortment of finds. Sand dollars, especially at certain points, were by the hundreds.

Now to the Shark! I was swimming, looking down, and doing my best to maintain the form that I think mermaids would admire, when I saw an unusual 'fish' approaching my direction.

I was about 40 feet away from the two kayaks, tied together and with my daughter and her cousin floating on a boogie board beside it. At first, I thought the fish was a huge catfish, with its side fins jutting out. But as it neared me, under me at maybe a depth of 10 feet, I realized it was a shark.

It was beautiful and less than 5 feet long. It swam in a most graceful way, with no sudden moves, and if it saw me, it was not impressed enough to stop for a closer look, despite my very impressive swimming motion.

I watched it swim off in the direction of my daughter and brother so I called out to them, informing them of an upcoming shark. My brother immediately jumped into his kayak while the girls frantically faught for position. If I wouldn't know any better I could have sworn he mouthed, 'Save Yourself!'.

No, he really didn't, but he did get in the kayak first while the girls struggled. I yelled out that it wasn't a biggie, but all in all it was decent sized. I'm no shark expert but would guess that it was a sandbar shark.

The shark did work its way around and swim by us again and I was able to watch it for about 30 seconds, quite a long time in the water. It swam through with a number of other fish.

On this trip I found numerous gorgeous shells and numerous white/dead sand dollars. This middle section between sandbars, is deeper than the sandbars, offerings an area where neat things seem to collect.

I also saw a white, pvc conduit/tube, that was buried and appeared to head back to the shoreline. I saw a huge tire and some other odds and ends. It was a great trip out. I only wish I'd had my camera working to capture my findings, including the shark and all the fish I encountered.

Hopefully I'll have my camera sent off today and have it fixed. We'll see.

 

[kkddbb]

good stuff. however my friend, i think your pushing the odds in these waters this time of year. i spend alot of time on and in the water and know first hand that sharks are no joke this time of year. just watch your back. and boy would i have liked to be there to see your brother hop back in that boat.

 

[melscuba]

good stuff. however my friend, i think your pushing the odds in these waters this time of year. i spend alot of time on and in the water and know first hand that sharks are no joke this time of year. just watch your back. and boy would i have liked to be there to see your brother hop back in that boat.

What do you mean by "this time of year"? We're headed down in July and have seen a few baby sharks in the past, but would like to avoid them as much as possible. We have little ones who like to swim in the ocean. I've been to lots of beaches in the past...Santa Rosa being one of my favorite. I've noticed that it is also the favorite spot for a variety of marine life. I would personally rather see this marine life scuba diving than just a few feet off shore with my small children. Any advice? What kind of sharks seem to show up most in this area?

 

[kkddbb]

what do you mean by "this time of year"? We're headed down in july and have seen a few baby sharks in the past, but would like to avoid them as much as possible. We have little ones who like to swim in the ocean. I've been to lots of beaches in the past...santa rosa being one of my favorite. I've noticed that it is also the favorite spot for a variety of marine life. I would personally rather see this marine life scuba diving than just a few feet off shore with my small children. Any advice? What kind of sharks seem to show up most in this area?

by "this time of year" i mean warm water season. The warmer the water the more sharks there are. Its really that simple. They will come closer to shore for a variety of reasons when the water gets as warm as it is. However, they are much more active early morning and evening. But, that doesnt mean they wont be cruising the beaches during the day. Now, most wont bother you, but there is never a guarantee with that so be cautious. Most species are bull sharks, but one never knows. Bulls are very agressive too. That doesnt mean stay out of the water, it simply means keep an eye out thats all.

 

[Geo]

I like to think there is a shark internet. And the sharks have their own sharksowal.com with shark screennames. Some of them stay in this area and some only visit occasionally. The ones that aren't from here post things on sharksowal like-

SHARKY: Are there any humans this time of year? I hope we don't see any.

SHARKFIN: You need to be careful this time of year when the water is warm because that's when they tend to come out to the sandbar. But if you stay away from shore they will generally leave you alone.

SHARKY: But what about the rodeo? Is it true that these humans are trying to kill us all.

SHARKFIN: I'm not saying don't ever swim near shore or boats- I'm just saying keep your eyes open because some of these humans, especially the males can be very aggressive and attacks on sharks are common.

 

[melscuba]

I like to think there is a shark internet. And the sharks have their own sharksowal.com with shark screennames. Some of them stay in this area and some only visit occasionally. The ones that aren't from here post things on sharksowal like-

SHARKY: Are there any humans this time of year? I hope we don't see any.

SHARKFIN: You need to be careful this time of year when the water is warm because that's when they tend to come out to the sandbar. But if you stay away from shore they will generally leave you alone.

SHARKY: But what about the rodeo? Is it true that these humans are trying to kill us all.

SHARKFIN: I'm not saying don't ever swim near shore or boats- I'm just saying keep your eyes open because some of these humans, especially the males can be very aggressive and attacks on sharks are common.

ok..ok.. I get it. I'm just a little protective with my kids in tow. I wish it more like, "Pardon the intrusion Mr. Shark. We like the warm water too... please don't mistake my child for a meal!" Since that isn't possible, we'll keep on the lookout.

 

[NotDeadYet]

Shark attacks are really rare. Statistically in July your odds of getting struck by lightning are much, much higher. Seriously - so get off the beach at the first hint of thunder.
Stay out of the water early in the morning and late in the afternoon when the light is low. Sharks have poor vision. Same goes for murky water.
And have a great time!

 

[mikecat adjuster]

Regarding statistics... I have always known stats to be misleading. I'll bet you anything that if you put thousands and thousands of people from the beach and put all of them out in deeper water, say the middle section between sandbars, there would be tons of shark attacks.

Let's face it, how many people do you see out there in deeper water snorkeling? There may be throngs of people on the beach and in shallow water, but at that same time there may be one or two out on the second sandbar area, if any.

I certainly don't want to mess with sharks and I must say, I am sometimes reticent to swim out there. I love it though. It is so calming.

I thought of this today. It feels like I'm doing Yoga when I'm under water. When I submerse myself deep, say 20 feet and I'm down there searching, I get the urge to surface for breath. It's then that I am extended, like a yoga stretch, arched and reaching for life, my body molding itself in upward flight.

When I arrive at the surface and pop up like a bobber, I draw in fresh air and it feels so good. It also is so lovely when I sit in my kayak out there after my snorkel and collect the wind and sound of the waves and the silence within each sound. Yep, it's awesome!

 

[jjnole04]

I tend to find others interpratations of stats misleading not the stats themselves.... I was up at Grayton the other day as well and saw that they are having a Ranger program on sea turtles this Saturday the 20th at 1:00 pm. Sounds interesting...

 

[mikecat adjuster]

I tend to find others interpratations of stats misleading not the stats themselves.... I was up at Grayton the other day as well and saw that they are having a Ranger program on sea turtles this Saturday the 20th at 1:00 pm. Sounds interesting...

Well, you're right that it is the interpretation that often lacks. Here is one of my favorite examples. Increased ice cream consumption coincides with increased drownings. One could interpret that to mean that eating ice cream creates a greater risk of drowning.

The reality is that an increase in the consumption of ice cream occurs in the summer, as does swimming and thus drowning. It is correlation rather than causation.

Anyway, it sure is fun to uncover neat stuff out where things get a little bit scary. I wish I could avoid a serious shark encounter by swimming in a protective suit. Maybe my birthday suit would scare them off. Then again, it might clear the beaches, too. So I'll test that theory out in the offseason ;-)