Bonnethead sharks: where/how in the keys?

[isurus]

So whenever we go anywhere I always try and do a little research to see if there are any local sharks I can dive/snorkel with - I'm a little bit of a sharknerd....Anyway, my fiancee and I will have roughly a day and a half driving through the florida keys in june and a bit of googling the fishing sites suggests bonnetheads are very common indeed on the flats throughout the keys. Our plan therefore was to keep an eye out for likely looking spots as we drive down and when we find somewhere suitable-looking go for a snorkel. I was also considering "chumming" with some crushed shrimp. As you can probably tell the plan is fairly basic and not particularly foolproof so if anyone has any guaranteed bonnethead spots or tips about how and where to see them I'd be tremendously grateful to hear from you.

 

[drew0930]

The only place I've seen bonnethead sharks is off of the beach at Nest Key in Florida Bay. And they're just babies, maybe 2 feet. Florida bay isn't the best place for snorkeling though. I've just seen them swimming past while sitting on a beach chair in the water.

 

[Buoyant1]

The only place I've seen them is in Tampa Bay...I was at a hotel and hanging out on a deck by the bay reading and a nice size one was swimming around (maybe about 3 feet long) for a long time...WIsh I had a camera with me, but it was cool to see! Never saw any in the Keys.

 

[aue-mike]

We see a lot of them during deco on a deep wreck off Islamorada. Another place to find them is in the cuts; I have seen the handy work of some jackass fishermen on the west side of the bridge there at Bahia Honda cut (where the old railroad bridge is), as they had caught about 6 small bonnetheads and just thrown them up on the bank and left to rot rather than releasing them.

 

[metaldector]

Off Sebastian Inlet on Florida's East coast a few years ago. We were just setting up our treasure boat to put the mailbox down when hundred of Bonnet Head (Shovel head) sharks swam through the area for a good 45 minutes we watched at sharks up to 6 feet long passed us by. Then growing bore of not treasure diving we decided enough was enough and dropped our mailbox and started to dig. Never had any trouble with these animals.

 

[isurus]

Thanks all!