The Shark Migration Is Back

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The Sunsentinel carried a full article on the shark migration, see below. There is also an informative video clip there worth watching.

"Thousands of sharks share South Florida's surf

By David Fleshler, Sun Sentinel
2:46 p.m. EST, January 18, 2013

The sharks stream in the thousands up South Florida's coast, a sight that might terrify the people playing in the surf less than a football field away.

From a Cessna 172 flying slowly along the beach, Stephen Kajiura videotapes this procession of oceanic predators as they engage in their annual migration from North Carolina.

Kajiura, an associate professor of biology at Florida Atlantic University, is conducting the first systematic study of the migrations of blacktip sharks, a pattern that has led lifeguards to close beaches and may be linked to increases in shark bites.

"Every year we see the same thing, large numbers of sharks off South Florida," he said. "We've got this really strong, seasonal influx of sharks. They spend the winter here and go up north again. We've known about the phenomenon for years, but no one's ever studied it."

The migrations run from roughly Cape Hatteras, N.C., to Broward County, or possibly northern Miami-Dade County, Kajiura said. The sharks start arriving in December, with numbers peaking in January and February before tapering off. By April, very few are left in South Florida. They're following their prey, largely schools of mullet.

Since February of 2011, Kajiura or a friend has piloted the Cessna every two weeks on a route from Boca Raton to Jupiter Inlet with a video camera mounted on the plane. Back at the office, he analyzes the tapes, counting the sharks and noting their locations.

The numbers are shocking. On the strip of ocean he studies, running from shore to about two football fields out, he has counted 15,000 sharks on a single trip."

Continued at: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/pal...,3383821.story