High number of shark attacks

Sabanist · Aug 22, 2011

I was scanning the shark attack survivors database of recorded attacks for the past couple of years and it seems there is a high volume of attacks in volusia county, florida.

Meaning that when attacks in Florida happen, they are probably in volusia county.

Anyone have any idea why? Is the water murkier there? Cooler?

I highly doubt there are more people in the water there than in Broward, Dade, or the keys.

DMDavid · Aug 22, 2011

The water is definitely not as clear as south Florida and there's a significantly larger amount of surfers in the deeper water where the sharks like to cruise.

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- Worst day out on the water is better than the best day at work.

RonFrank · Aug 24, 2011

There are a large number of surfers in the water and there are a a large amount of Bait fish in that same water as well. The attacks are often minor as black tips are not very large, and we don't taste yummy.

The huge number of bites is attributed to the low vis compared to Broward.

PatW · Aug 25, 2011

Volusia County leads the world in shark bites. But I don't think of those as "attacks". You have a whole bunch of people in the water. Also there are a pile of sharks in the water. I have seen aerial photographs and the sharks are there right in among the swimmers in amazingly high numbers. What is surprising is that there are not MORE shark bites happening. The water is quite turbid (very low visibility). The sharks are in shallow water in hot pursuit of bait fish. If they happen to inadvertantly run into swimmer, they seem to bite automatically. What makes the accidental bite notion plausible is the sharks do not seem to come back and bite again. They just swim off. The bites can be severe and often require a pile of stitches. But they are very rarely life threatening. The sharks are fairly small about 5' or 6'. People are just too big for a shark that size to tackle.

Danielle's_Dives · May 12, 2012

Volusia #1 county in Florida for attacks, Brevard #2

Splitlip · May 12, 2012

Zombie thread.

As Ron noted: most of the bite victims are surfers. Water is not known for
Its clarity up that way and since surfers surf in churned up waters...add bait fish to the equation as well as the shark nurseries in the inlet. Vois la. Mistaken identity bites. Not attacks.o

Chugwhump · May 12, 2012

I have often said that there are getting to be too many surfers up there, and they do not taste especially good to sharks.
But seriously, I think the record keeping as well as the population growth up there has a lot to do with what seems to be an increase.
As others have said in so many words, there is a big difference between an "Attack" and a "Tasting".

Chug
Avoids murky water, especially when killing dumb fish.

Tigerman · May 12, 2012

So if Im in Florida and want to find sharks, the best chance is to go to Volusia? :eyebrow:

Splitlip · May 12, 2012

Danielle's_Dives:
Volusia #1 county in Florida for attacks, Brevard #2

Surfers and mistaken bites.

---------- Post added May 12th, 2012 at 05:07 PM ----------

Tigerman:
So if Im in Florida and want to find sharks, the best chance is to go to Volusia?

Not if you want to see them diving. For that come to Jupiter.

Danielle's_Dives · May 12, 2012

I have them on video from Vero beach one block from where the attack was a few days ago to Pepper Park and even Lauderdale by the Sea, just on shore dives I have done this year with my new camera. It is amazing to me, I have a store in the mall in Vero Beach and every one was coming in and saying "have you heard about the shark attack?" It is difficult at times not to open my rather large mouth and point them to my dive blog where they can see some footage of what is right off their shores. Instead, I have taken the stance to educate them that the mouth while it may have rather large and sharp teeth, they do not have hands or feet to feel around with. It is harder for me not to tell them that I rate my dives higher when I see a shark

High number of shark attacks

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