What Kind Of Shark Are You Most Likely To Encounter In Waters Around Tampa Bay

Thankfully, not a great white. Based on the numbers of sharks in our Gulf waters, you'd be most likely to encounter blacktip sharks.

Other sharks that swim in the Gulf of Mexico include bonnetheads, lemon sharks, nurse sharks, and then the more aggressive and dangerous variety...hammerheads and bull sharks. Wouldn't want to run into any of those.

I used to be obsessed with sharks, especially great white sharks. I could rattle off a bazillion fun facts about them, like they can smell one drop of blood in one hundred million drops of water. I'm not as quick on my shark facts today, as I pushed a lot of brain (memory) cells out when I birthed my kids. Also, how can you even try to recall shark facts when you're just going crazy with the tune of "Baby Shark" playing over and over in your head? "Doo-doo doo-dah-doo!"

What brought me to all of this fun is that fact that today is Shark Awareness Day (not to be confused with Shark Appreciation Day or Hug A Shark Day). So in the spirit of becoming more shark-aware, you could schedule a trip to the Florida Aquarium and try out their Shark Swim program