Nope....

[57stratdawg]

Great White caught off the coast of Pensacola

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/first-ever-great-white-shark-caught-florida-beach-exclusive-pics/

 

[ronpolk]

Crazy stuff. I wouldn't worry too much about many great whites in that part of Florida. I grew up on the emerald coast and trust me every time you get in the water you are closer to a bull shark than you want to be.

 

[DamnGoodDawg]

And my stupid-*** wife still gets pissed at me when I refuse to get in the water on vacations. And I don't allow the kids to go in either past knee deep.

 

[Bulldogg31]

Maybe 15 years ago I was standing about 10 feet from my father in chest deep water on the sandbar off the coast in Destin when a big shark swam between us. Holy crap. It was probably only 4 or 5 feet long but it looked 10 feet to me. That afternoon someone was bitten a few miles down shore. Not a great feeling at all, and it probably happens more than people know.

 

[DamnGoodDawg]

The "non alarmists" will say it's because of chumming or they are being fished in but the truth is they are there waiting for a meal.

 

[rem101]

and it probably happens more than people know.

It definitely does. Just look at the aerial pictures. I spend hours in the water every summer both in Florida/Alabama and at the barrier islands here. Never had any problems but I guess you never know. You're much more likely to have an encounter with a shark at dusk or dawn...feeding time.

 

[BulldogBlitz]

can you blame a shark for heading for the buffet?

 

[DamnGoodDawg]

No I don't actually. But I blame stupid people for being items on the buffet

 

[ronpolk]

Every time I see someone swimming as the sun is going down I wonder if they know how close they are to getting mistaken for food. Shark attacks don't happen as often in Destin/Fort Walton Beach in part due to the water clarity. Compare shark attacks on Florida's Gulf and Atlantic coast. There are way more around the Daytona Beach area and really the Atlantic as a whole. I don't know that there has ever been a study done but I believe because of the water clarity in Destin it helps the sharks distinguish between food and non-food.

I have done dives everywhere from Pensacola to Panama City Beach and there are plenty of sharks, especially bull sharks, in the Gulf. I'm not sure if this is true but I was told once that bull sharks are actually more aggressive than a Great White.

 

[DamnGoodDawg]

I've always heard this. Also heard that there have been bull sharks attacks in the Mississippi River as far north as St Louis. They are not scared of the fresh water.

 

[Kicking Bird]

Last year me and a buddy made it out to the post on the Mississippi coast. The water out there is about 6 feet. We waded most of the way. The next day a shark washed up on the beach. It was small, maybe about 2 feet long, but its mouth was just the right size to rip out your damn package. 17 that. I'll keep my *** on the bank.

 

[ronpolk]

I've always heard this. Also heard that there have been bull sharks attacks in the Mississippi River as far north as St Louis. They are not scared of the fresh water.

I've never read of an attack in fresh water but I do know they have been spotted way up stream in the mississippi. They certainly can tolerate fresh water.

 

[patdog]

Let's review. It took 7 hours of those guys actively baiting that shark before it finally bit. You're more likely to die driving to Florida than you are to be attacked by a shark while you're there.

 

[Uncle Ruckus]

Take it from someone who fishes the gulf a lot, sharks are everywhere but they really aren't that interested in us

 

[Palos verdes]

Bull sharks are all over the southern Mississippi and have access to numerous tributaries, bayous, lakes and connecting rivers. I think one was caught in the Pearl river once. They are able somehow to maintain the amount of sodium levels in their organs when in freshwater, and can live in freshwater, or saltwater permanently. It's linked to evolutionary mixing with other adaptable species.

About the GW, they've been encountered a few times in recent years off the AL and FL gulf coast.

 

[DamnGoodDawg]

I think last year biologists were tracking a great white with a collar or tag as it migrated down the eastern seaboard and appeared to be heading to Florida. It stands to reason that they have entered the gulf. I always thought of great whites as cold water sharks.

 

[DerHntr]

Working on an oil rig off the coasts of MS, LA, and TX gave me plenty of reason to not want to be in the water. When up on the rig 100 feet above the water on a sunny day, you can see deep into the water. The damn sharks are crazy. I saw a tiger shark one time that had old timers on the rig stopping to take pictures of it. It was a damn beast. We were far out in the gulf at the time, but there's no fence between those rascals and the beach.

 

[Palos verdes]

I think last year biologists were tracking a great white with a collar or tag as it migrated down the eastern seaboard and appeared to be heading to Florida. It stands to reason that they have entered the gulf. I always thought of great whites as cold water sharks.

True. Great whites from the New England coast have been satellite tracked all the way down into the Gulf, off Key West and north to Medeira Beach near Tampa Bay. One shark recorded in the gulf was an old female, estimated 5000lbs, that made the trip every year from Cape Cod. I forgot what the scientists named the shark, but it routinely used the NE Fla and Georgia coasts as a nursery area to give birth.

From what I've read, I think GW numbers are on the rise worldwide, except in the Mediterranean.

 

[Battle.sixpack]

Here are the currently tagged Great Whites in the Gulf.....

http://www.ocearch.org/

A month or two ago there were three in the Gulf.

 

[msu]

Check out the path of Katharine....she has been in the gulf and very active from a pinging and location perspective.

 

[BulldogBlitz]

lot's of whites along the coast. never once did i think to call one "great".

 

[johnson86-1]

I have done dives everywhere from Pensacola to Panama City Beach and there are plenty of sharks, especially bull sharks, in the Gulf. I'm not sure if this is true but I was told once that bull sharks are actually more aggressive than a Great White.

I don't know if they're more aggressive, but they're much more dangerous. They are much more likely to be where people are since they hunt in shallow water and they aren't picky about what they eat, so if they're unsure whether something is food, they're more likely to take a bite to test it out rather than other sharks that might bump something first.