Spring Break Partygoers Banned From Water as Thousands of Sharks Appear Offshore in Fla.

(Photo: Reuters/Mike Hutchings)
A Great White Shark swims past a diving cage off Gansbaai about 200 kilometres east of Cape Town.

By Myles Collier , Christian Post Contributor

March 8, 2013|2:01 pm

Spring Breakers in Florida are being cautioned to stay out of the water after a large group of sharks were seen off the shores of some of the most popular beaches in the Sunshine State.

It was estimated that there was over 10,000 sharks– mainly Black tip sharks– just off the shore line as they make their annual migration north.

"We don't have a sandbar. A lot of times when we have a sandbar the sharks stay off of the shore a little further," Craig Pollock, a lifeguard supervisor in Palm Beach, told ABC. "Every year we expect annual shark migration to come through this area."

This year the shark's migration is running longer than it normally has in the past as the sharks make their way up to the mid-Atlantic coast.

Already this year, scientists at Florida Atlantic University revealed that they have documented over 15,000 sharks, with most of the sightings occurring less than 200 yards from shore.

While some may be wary of going into the water right now, locals are used to the annual occurrence and accept it as a cost of living in Florida.

"It's the beauty of living in Florida," Laura Salerno, of Palm Beach, told the Orlando Sentinel. "It's also the danger," she added.

Officials have placed many of the eastern shore beaches on high alert today by placing double red flags in the sand to make sure beachgoers stay out of the water.

"People really need to heed these warnings because thank god it's a public beach, and they have lifeguards and they have these warnings," Elizabeth Horowitz, a local resident, told Fox News. "Sharks are not to be reckoned with."