Great White Sharks are Making Their Way to Florida Shores

It turns out vacationers aren’t the only ones flocking to the beaches of Florida this year. With New Smyrna Beach being the shark bite capital of the world, it's no surprise there are a lot of sharks along the east coast of Florida, but is the great white shark in Florida? On November 2nd, 2023 OCEARCH spotted a 10 foot, 460 pound Great White Shark in Florida swimming along the shores of Daytona Beach.

But why are the great white sharks making their move to Florida? Dr. Bob Hueter, OCEARCH Senior Advisor for Science & Academics, said, “It’s kind of like winter snowbirds, the sharks start heading south in the fall as the temperatures drop up north…the most prominent is the one we work on on OCEARCH the white shark otherwise known as the great white shark.”

The migration starts around the middle of October and runs through the end of November into early December. Dr. Hueter explains that these sharks are usually off the southeast coast, east coast of Florida and some of them go down into the keys into the Gulf of Mexico.

OCEARCH is a non profit organization dedicated to studying these oceanic beasts. They state that their mission “is to accelerate the ocean’s return to balance and abundance through fearless innovations in critical scientific research, education, outreach, and policy using unique collaborations of individuals and organizations in the US and abroad.”

Dr. Hueter went on to explain that the sharks will stay between one mile and 100 miles off the coast and during this time, OCEARCH studies these sharks. On November 27th, the OCEARCH expedition takes off from the coast of Jacksonville. On this voyage, the scientists will be tagging them so they can track their movement and activity.

While the team is on their expedition, they will be collecting important data such as the diet of these animals and their genetics. The sharks also provide information that can lead to potentially important information for the pharmaceutical industry. 

Dr. Hueter says that some of the work done by the microbiologist is showing the bacterial samples from these sharks may be helpful to produce antibiotics. The efforts made by this team could lead to the creation of drugs that will fight human diseases. To follow the great white sharks as they migrate, click here for the tracking map on OCEARCH.

There are a lot of dangerous animals in Florida. But if you ever wondered what the most dangerous are? This list was put together by A-Z Animals. Between 1999 and 2019 only 247 people in Florida died as a result of an animal attack. Florida ranks as the third deadliest state in the United States for animal attacks. Texas is number one with 520 and California is number two with 299. Those findings come from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

So, what is the first animal that you think of when you think dangerous in Florida? You probably think of the Alligator, but that isn’t the number one overall dangerous animal in Florida. The Great White Shark is the most dangerous animal in Florida. While not on the land in Florida Great White Sharks swim the waters around the state of Florida. Back in 2020 Florida had 16 shark bites on record. Second was Hawaii with only five.

The dangerous animals in Florida that didn’t make the top five are some that you may have thought could’ve been higher. Firstly, number six on the list is the Black Widow Spider followed by the Florida Panther. The Florida Panther is the state animal. It was chosen in 1982 by a vote of students throughout the state. Following the Florida Panther on the list is the Wild Boar. You can find the Wild Boar in all 67 counties of Florida. Their estimated population is over half a million.

Next is the Timber Rattlesnake. It is also known as the canebreak rattlesnake and it is a species of pit viper. The Timber Rattlesnake has a Chevron pattern and a stripe running down its body. Finally, coming in number 10 on the list is the American Crocodile. They are found along the coast of Florida as north as the Hillsborough/Pasco County border on the west side of Florida.

Below, you can find the top five most dangerous animals in Florida.

Yes, Great White Sharks are found in the waters around Florida. A almost 1,200 pound shark that was almost 13 feet in length was tracked back in March of this year.

#1 and #2 on the list are sharks. They are in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. They grow to about 11 feet and can live about 24 years.

Alligators live in all 67 counties in Florida. You can find alligators in any body of water including lakes, ponds, rivers, marshes, swamps and man-made canals. We've seen multiple reports this year of gator attacks, even some fatal ones.

They are found in pine flatwoods, longleaf pine and turkey oak hammocks, sand pine scrub areas, and coastal barrier islands. Yes it is venomous.

It is venomous and can be found throughout Florida. It is called a cottonmouth because of the white color of the inside of its mouth.