Here is a list of some of the sharks you will see on a trip with Florida Shark Diving! They are heavy bodied and have stripes coming down their sides and across their fins. Tiger sharks can be found on both shallow reefs along with oceanic offshore waters.
Tigers are the second largest predatory fish in the ocean and are deliberate swimmers capable of high bursts of speed. They often approach divers with caution but can also be very bold.
Tiger Sharks hunt and scavenge on a number of prey items: fish, birds, squid, whales, dolphin, and sea turtles. There are only a few places in the world you can see these sharks and South Florida is one of them. Great Hammers main prey items include: other sharks, stingrays, and fish. Bull Shark Bull Sharks are one of the most aggressive sharks in the ocean and are perhaps the worlds most dangerous sharks.
Bulls are at home in both offshore and inshore water along with freshwater. Bull Sharks are big heavy bodied sharks that are often found in packs. Chance Encounters — Winter Months. See Lemon Sharks in Florida — Year round. Nurse Shark Nurse Sharks are commonly seen in Florida but we rarely see them come to the surface for our tours.
Chance Encounters — July and August. Smooth Hammerhead Shark This is a Shark that is highly migratory. Chance Encounters — June to August. Chance Encounters — All Year. Black Tips normally live among shallow reef systems and backcountry flats around the state of Florida. They feed on a wide variety of food sources, including primarily other small fish species, crabs, and other small marine life.
The black tip can rach up to 7 feet in length and can weigh as much as roughly pounds. Mako Sharks are a large and impressive pelagic shark species. As one of the more aggressive shark species, the Mako shark lives and stays in the deeper pelagic waters off of Florida, in most cases being found miles from shore. The Mako shark is also known as one of the fastest shark species , traveling at consistent speeds of 40 miles per hour and able to make large bursts of speed at any time.
Here in Florida, and on our shark excursions, the Mako Shark is encountered almost exclusively way offshore in the deep waters. The Mako shark feeds primarily on fish, other sharks and other larger prey. This impressive shark species can grow to be very big, with lengths of over 12 feet and weights of over 1, pounds recorded.
Dusky Sharks are a large and powerful shark species that frequent the waters off the coast of Florida. As a highly migratory shark species, the Dusky shark can cover huge distances in their lifetime and can regularly be found in both nearshore and deep offshore waters. Dusky sharks feed almost primarily on smaller fish species, as well as smaller species of sharks. This powerful shark species can grow to lengths of over 10 feet and have been known to weigh as much as 1, pounds.
The Bigeye Sand Tiger is similar in appearance to the better-known sand tiger shark. This species is dark chocolate brown to reddish brown in color and the eyes are relatively large and orange in color. If you ever catch this shark, take pictures, put it back into the water, and report it to wildlife authorities.
The rarely seen Bigeye Sixgill Shark is a small species, with a maximum reported size just under 6 feet and weighting about 44 lbs. The Bigeye is primarily a deepwater species, inhabiting continental shelves at depths of to 1, feet. The Bignose shark is commonly found in very deep near the edge of the continental shelf in tropical and subtropical waters.
The Bignose can be 9 feet long and weigh pounds. They feed on bony fish such as lizardfishes, croakers, soles, batfishes, dogfishes, catsharks, and stingrays. The Blacknose Shark is common in the tropical and subtropical waters generally inhabiting coastal seagrass, sand, or rubble habitats, with adults preferring deeper water. A small averaging 4 feet , fast-swimming predator, the Blacknose shark feeds primarily on small bony fishes, including pinfish, croakers, porgies, anchovies, spiny boxfish, octopus, and porcupine fish.
The Black Tip Shark is often near shore around river mouths, bays, beaches, and estuaries. Known as one of the best tasting sharks, the black tip's meat is pinkish in color and sweet in flavor. The Black Tip reef shark mostly eats reef fish, often preying on sturgeon fishes and mullet. It hunts in small groups during the day. The Black Tip is not very aggressive but can be slightly dangerous to divers and waders if provoked. Fillets of Blacktip are excellent grilled. A 4 foot Blacktip fillet will look like a very long pork tenderloin.
Be sure to remove all dark red meat leaving you will a clean white fillet then soak the meat in milk for 5 minutes, marinate in your favorite recipe for 5 minutes to 24 hours soy sauce, garlic, grated ginger is great and grill like a steak, don't overcook.
We think Blacktip is better than Cobia, it is soft, sweet white meat. The Spinner is a larger version of the Blacktip Shark and often misidentified as such. The difference between these two Sharks is the distinct black color on the tip of the rear bottom anal fin, the Spinner has it, the Blacktip does not.
The Spinner averages 6 feet and pounds but can reach 10 feet in length. They get their name from their feeding habit of swimming vertically and "spinning" as they swiftly engulf their prey. The Spinner inhabits water depth from to feet both inshore and offshore, sometimes forming large schools. Commercial fisherman have sought this Shark species for its meat, fins, liver oil, and skin thus the species is now considered vulnerable and might be protected in the future.
The Bonnethead Shark is commonly found over flats and are often confused with Hammerhead Sharks. This is a small shark averaging under 4 feet.
It eats a variety of insure delights like crustaceans, mollusks, and small fish. The Bonnethead is a timid shark and harmless to people. The Bull Shark lives in the warmer climates inshore around river mouths and can adapt to life in freshwater. Bulls are common at over 7 feet and over pounds and are not hard to miss inshore due to their size. The Bull Shark is an aggressive feeder of fish, other sharks, stingrays, turtles, birds, mollusks, crustaceans, and dolphins.
The bull shark is one of the most frequent attackers of people as it swims in very shallow waters where people swim. The Caribbean Reef Shark is a common species is found in the tropical waters and can grow to 10 feet. It prefers shallow waters around coral reefs, and is commonly found near the drop-offs, and is sometimes seen resting motionless on the sea floor or inside caves. This shark feeds on a wide variety of reef-dwelling bony fishes as well as stingrays and is attracted to low-frequency sounds, which are indicative of struggling fish.
The Caribbean sharpnose is a small shark only reaching lengths of 3 feet. The Carribean sharpnose resides close inshore, primarily in tropical bays and estuaries with occasional forays into freshwater rivers.
It is also reported to live in offshore waters to depths of 1, feet, although more commonly in depths less than feet. This shark feeds on small bony fishes, including wrasses, as well as snails, squid, and shrimp.
The smooth dogfish shark is small, only reaching 60 inches and weighing 27 pounds. The smooth dogfish shark commonly lives in bays and inshore waters, preferring waters less than 60 feet deep. The smooth dogfish is a migratory species that moves north and south with the seasons. This shark is a scavenger and opportunistic feeder, but regularly feeds upon crabs, lobster and shrimp. The Spiny Dogfish Shark is found mostly in shallow waters and further offshore in most parts of the world, especially in temperate waters.
The Spiny Dogfish was once abundant but is now on the endangered list due to overfishing for food.
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